Over the course of nearly 30 years, The Prodigy have established a legendary status for themselves within the electronic genre by pushing U.K. dance music to its extremes. On "Fight Fire With Fire," the third single from their upcoming album No Tourists, they continue to explore their trademark pummelling sound in a slightly more reserved — though no less powerful — fashion with assistance by up and coming New Jersey punk-rap duo Ho99o9 (pronounced "Horror").
Notably downtempo compared to most of their discography, "Fight Fire With Fire" sees The Prodigy channeling their aggressive production style in a slower. The track doesn't have the high-BPM energized breakbeats of "Firestarter" or "Smack My Bitch Up," though it stays within the identity the group has fixed for themselves over the course of their career by retaining their characteristic distorted synths, heavy bass, and urgent atmosphere.
The slower tempo works to the track's advantage by leaving space to emphasize Ho99o9's presence, putting the focus on their vocal delivery rather than straight rave beats made for the dance-floor. Embracing a new generation of genre-pushing experimentalists demonstrates that The Prodigy isn't losing touch with innovation decades into their career. Their remarkable eye for what is yet to come on the harsher, more energetic side of the electronic spectrum makes for a perfect collaboration and a great opportunity for a younger group to gain serious credibility.
Ho99o9 work very well with The Prodigy's production style, finding common territory in both groups' hardcore-influenced musical sensibilities despite somewhat different niches. Their energy together makes for a very entertaining, energetic, mosh-ready banger and excellently channels the strengths of both groups' sounds.
In discussion about the track, The Prodigy keyboardist / producer Liam Howlett seems to recognize the pairing's power, stating "As far as doing a collaboration, the Ho99o9 guys were the main band I wanted to work with, and this tune has so much danger embedded in it. It's the best collaboration we have done."
This aligns well with a prior statement to NME, where Howlett (after working with much larger acts like Liam Gallagher, Dave Grohl, and Juliette Lewis) explained: "I tend to try to work with people that are more lower down the scale, I’m bored of the big collaborations."
Regardless of the contrast between The Prodigy's now-legendary, arena sell-out status and Ho99o9's fairly recent break into the music industry, the pair compliment each other flawlessly. As for what comes after this initial collaboration, they will be playing several European dates together in November.
For more information and tour dates, you can check out The Prodigy and Ho99o9's Zumic artist pages.
