Faithless : Champion Sound Review

by Shannon Smith

Faithless’s return with Champion Sound in September 2025 is a late-career victory lap, reaffirming what makes their architecture of groove so enduring. Since Reverence and the global eruption of “Insomnia,” Faithless have walked a line between rave’s euphoria, hip-hop’s grit, and pop’s accessibility. With Maxi Jazz’s voice now woven into memory after his passing in 2022, Rollo Armstrong and Sister Bliss have crafted an album that respects the band’s lineage while reaching forward into the club and headphone spaces of 2025. It’s at once a dance record with teeth and a studio sculpture designed for deep listening.

 From the first moments of “Forever Free,” where Maxi Jazz’s posthumous vocal pulls the spiritual register, the album situates itself as an elegy and rebirth. Faithless were always more than just a band: they were a culture-vector, bridging festival main stages with underground credibility. Champion Sound continues that role, layering gospel-tinged vocals, spoken-word vectors, and hypnotic beats into a set that shifts between peak-hour thrust and late-night introspection.

At the heart of the album is groove design with four-on-the-floor kick foundations in the 122–126 BPM range for the club-aimed cuts, while the headphone pieces break meter with halftime drops and ambient spaces. Faithless’ kick drums remain instantly recognizable with long-tailed, heavy-weighted subs tuned to lift a room. Their transient shaping has evolved to move beyond the blunt impacts of Sunday 8PM, these kicks have sculpted envelopes that punch without swallowing the sub-bass. The build/release arcs are classic with risers and white-noise swells, sudden snare rolls into filtered breakdowns, then clean drops that maximize crowd response. “Fugitive” is a case in point, its rollercoaster of tension and release scripted for DJs who need both impact and narrative in a set.

The production team of Armstrong and Sister Bliss, with Max Rad co-helming “Driving,” lean on a modern palette. The layered analog-style synth basses with FM grit, granular-processed vocal snippets for ear candy, and wide stereo pads treated with subtle chorus are all in check. Faithless prize arrangement flow, and here every frequency is balanced as the sub-bass never muddies the midrange, high hats are crisp without harshness, and automation keeps momentum alive. On “In Your Own Groove (feat. LSK),” the organic guitar figure threads through a percussive synth bass, with syncopated vocal phrasing opening space for drops. The layering feels three-dimensional: organ swells behind the chorus, samples constantly darting across the stereo field, the whole mix breathing with club-ready intent.

Faithless’s magic has always come from how guest voices integrate into their matrix. On Champion Sound, vocal treatment is as considered as the beats. Bebe Rexha’s turn on “Dollars And Dimes” is a study in pop-club crossover: her topline is compressed forward, with reverb tails cut short so the hook stays chantable over bass pressure. Suli Breaks brings gravitas to “Peace And Noise,” his spoken-word cadences stretched by delay throws that ripple into the breakdowns, recalling Maxi Jazz’s rhetorical presence yet updating it for a generation raised on slam poetry. Nathan Ball and Amelia Fox, recurring collaborators, add melancholy sheen to “Meeting” and “Thinking,” their doubled lines processed with subtle pitch modulation that hovers between intimacy and dream. Every vocal is a hook delivery system, but also an arrangement device, steering transitions, and keeping energy dynamic.

“In Your Own Groove (feat. LSK)” is the album’s kinetic epicenter. The sub-bass is clean and heavy, sitting just under the kick, while the syncopated B-section gives dancers breathing space before the organ and snare-roll bring everything crashing back into motion. It’s not just functional; it’s architecture, a lesson in how to control a floor without gimmick.

“Peace And Noise (feat. Suli Breaks)” thrives on contrast. Sparse drum programming underlines his verses, then hi-hat triplets and filtered sweeps build to sudden, wide-open drops. The vocal delay chains blur the line between speech and chant, a perfect festival anthem for twilight hours.

“Dollars And Dimes (feat. Bebe Rexha)” is pure crossover strategy. Rexha’s pop clarity rides on an elastic bassline that oscillates between sine-weight and FM-edge, the chorus designed for sing-back while still slamming on Funktion-One rigs. The mix is immaculate — every transient sparkles, and the low-end is bulletproof.

For headphone immersion, “Meeting (feat. Nathan Ball & Amelia Fox)” shows Faithless’s restraint. Ambient pads shimmer with slow phaser automation, the bass dialed back into warm sub pulses. Vocal stacking creates a choral haze, a meditation after the storm of the floor-burners.

“Champion Sound: Side 3 Book of Hours” closes with reflective grandeur. Minimal beats, field-recording textures, and harmonic drones place Faithless within ambient lineage as much as club culture. It’s a reminder of their dual DNA — body and mind.

Champion Sound is a rare late-period album that feels vital. For dancers, it’s a ride through festival highs and headphone lows. For DJs, it’s crate-ready, with cuts that can slot next to techno, house, or bass music. Champion Sound mixes club functionality into art. Faithless have always been a compass for where club culture and pop can meet. In 2025, that compass still points forward.