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The rhythm-synth pop trio come out with a rare EP release. Keane has become
highly significant in Britpop.
Three mammoth, well-received and stellar albums down, they pop into the studio
again for an eight-track EP, citing numerous 80s influences – I can’t wait.
The record starts with the atmospheric intro, ‘House Lights’ which does very well indeed to create that unmistakeable feeling of being on a
late night public transportation service. This lovingly fades into ‘Back in Time’ – an early Duran Duran-style wall of synths and dramatic strings, as lead, Tom
Chaplin, finally echoes in. Chaplin’s voice stands proud atop the electrical tree in a very star moment. As a
statement of intention, it feels that we’re in for a retro treat.
‘Stop for a Minute’ marks a first for the seemingly-posh trio: an outside contribution, from
upcoming Somali-Canadian wordsmith, K’naan. Maybe it’s the typical happy piano vibe from Tim Rice-Oxley or maybe it’s just because the tune’s remarkably memorable (very hummable too); whatever it’s a damn good one, except for K’naan’s solo, mind.
Things get a bit darker and somewhat mellower for the acoustic-led romp of ‘Clear Skies’. As Rice-Oxley himself put it, when questioned about leaving Keane to go solo,
why would you want to with a singer as talented as Chaplin; and this song
really allows his voice to roam and star. In case you didn’t understand – Tom Chaplin has one of the best voices in music and this just underlines that
fact.
If ‘Perfect Symmetry’ was about loving the world and its people, ‘Ishin Denshin (You’ve Got to Help Yourself)’ with Japanese funkster, Tigarah, further flies the flag. Keane have of course
experimented with foreign dialect within the aforementioned record, but this
goes a little further down that road. It’s happy, it’s catchy, but it’s also somewhat overkill.
Stand-out tracks can occur in many forms; not usually though as a song that
actually sounds like it was released in 1982. “Those were the times/and these were the places” is dreamily sung on ‘Your Love’ and never has a line been so apt, nor a genre been so well emulated – it’s simply stunning.
It’s hard to believe after that immensely trance-inducing high that you’ve just heard the Rocky theme, but I’m afraid you have. And it just gets worse on ‘Looking Back’ as K’naan returns, laying down some lines on a rapper’s favourite subject – reminiscing. It just doesn’t work and it’s a shame a composer as fine as Rice-Oxley has allowed it to happen. The EP goes
out with something of a melancholic whimper on ‘My Shadow’. There’s nothing wrong with letting Chaplin do most of the work and this is a striking
and well-written piece of music.
Released - 10/5/10
Label - Island
4th studio release
- Back in Time
- Clear Skies
- Your Love
- My Shadow
- Stop for a Minute
- Ishin Denshin (You’ve Got to Help Yourself)
- Looking Back
9
I think Keane have experimented here and in most places it’s a resounding success, with just one real exception. Credit to them for
channelling that creativity into yet another strong collection and further
asserting themselves as one of the hardest working bands around.
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Courtney Love’s band releases their long-awaited fourth record.
Hole are very much Love’s band, from the fights with Billy Corgan and Eric Erlandson to the critique
from Nirvana fans. A comeback may have seemed unlikely, but in 2010, they have
a new line-up and a very grunge-laden sound.
The opener and titletrack is very like something Smashing Pumpkins would’ve released, ironic really, that Corgan didn’t contribute. Still it’s very melodic-driven rock and very likeable. The follower, ‘Skinny Little Bitch’ initially, certainly isn’t as Love growls out. It sounds like Nirvana with its fast-paced rock (‘Rape Me’) as it spirals somewhat out of control towards the end.
‘Honey’ sounds very influenced by the early work of The Verve (‘On Your Own’) as it gradually builds itself into a progressive rock song. Love is on typical
screaming form as she bellows out the story of going down. I’d label it as average, punk rock. ‘Pacific Coast Highway’ is Corgan’s first contribution and unsurprisingly ups the ante. It’s possible that Love’s delivery isn’t the best outlet for it, but it is a very accomplished tune.
‘Samantha’ is full of the classic Hole-echoing vocals. Heavy rock guitars play a supporting
role on a ferocious tune. It feels like it will get good but then comes the
verse: “people like you/fuck people like me”, it all gets very ‘Girls & Boys’ (Blur). Things get a bit reminiscent and regretful on ‘Someone Else’s Bed’. It’s obviously written from the heart and that actually comes across well in an
authentic rock warbling.
The strings and some serious melody come out for ‘For Once in Your Life’ and sounds a bit like ‘Iris’ (Goo Goo Dolls) in places on an auto-biographical dissection of a song. There’s nothing particularly wrong here, it just sounds a bit samey of that genre. ‘Letter to God’ is more heart-on-her-sleeve lyrics in an emotional plea. The lyrics go: “I never wanted to be so comic relief/I don’t know who I am” and that’s very much how I feel about this song.
Hole go very traditional fast-paced rock (around ‘Celebrity Skin’) on ‘Loser Dust’. It’s more of what they are known for and I personally feel this is one of the
stronger efforts, as it plays to their strengths. ‘How Dirty Girls Get Clean’ features a fast-pluck solo before culminating into a heavy rock song. It drags
on a whole lot before ever really getting anywhere, though the fast-paced
accompaniment is far better. Bonus, ‘Never Go Hungry’ has more country styling than anything. Whilst it may be authentic, it’s hardly worth the billing.
Released - 23/4/10
Label - Island Def Jam
4th studio album
I think this record is better than most thought it would be and Love has proven
she can write a song (albeit co-write) and her voice is in decent shape. It has some decent parts, but is hardly
something worth the wait.
6.5
(c) ChrisOnline.biz 2010
