Album Review: Pet Shop Boys

Living North: Issue 125

LISTEN UP: Pet Shop Boys - Elysium

One of the most successful duos in UK music history, Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe present their eleventh album, marking over a quarter of a century since their debut, ‘Please’. Having sold over 100 million records since, the synth-pop pair continue with their unmistakably electronic sound in ‘Elysium’. A woozy, ethereal production is the crux of the record, matching its nomenclature of a mythical Greek paradise, whilst a mix of optimistic anthems and unambiguously bitter lyrics form clear-cut peaks and troughs in the mood. Elysium’s debut single ‘Winner’ was released in July to coincide with Olympic fever, their own anthem of positivity and cheer in anticipation of a successful closing ceremony performance of 1984 hit ‘West End Girls’.

With almost saccharine lyrics, ‘Winner’ is remarkably contrasted by the cynical assertions on ‘Ego Music’, a sardonic caricature of celebrity culture, whilst the self-deprecating ‘Your Early Stuff’ is a satirical observation of Pet Shop Boys’ persistence in the music industry. The album seems age-conscious throughout: ‘Invisible’ describes the anxieties of being forgotten after years as the ‘life and soul of the party’, whilst ‘Requiem in Denim and Leopard Skin’ brims with nostalgic flashbacks of a hedonistic heyday. North Shields-born Tennant met bandmate Lowe in a hi-fi shop in London before discovering their shared love of dance music, and four number one singles, 22 top ten hits and three Ivor Novello Awards later, the pair enter the UK top ten album charts once more. With sleek production from Kanye West producer Andrew Dawson, Elysium is set to become a classic.

Out now (Parlophone)

Review: St Vincent & David Byrne - Love This Giant

Living North: Issue 124

LOVE THIS GIANT - David Byrne & St. Vincent

It’s said that opposites attract, but the partnership of Talking Heads ex-frontman David Byrne and critically acclaimed singer songwriter Annie Clark, AKA St. Vincent, marries together their creative similarities and fortes. As the culmination of more than two years in the making, Clark’s dreamy, alluring vocals complement the gutsy tones of Byrne, his sound still unmistakeable from the huge new-wave hits Road to Nowhere and Once In A Lifetime of the early eighties. Offering inventive arrangements centered around a brass band rather than a typical rock ensemble, the record has a carnivalistic vibe with a vivacious afrobeat vein running throughout, exemplified by the vibrant Dinner For Two and The One Who Broke Your Heart.

Byrne offers stunning harmonisation with an unexpectedly grimy afrobeat on I Should Watch TV, whilst St. Vincent’s vocals are goosebump-inducing on Ice Age, a tranquil number contrasted by the buildup of a lo-fi rhythm. Since the culmination of Talking Heads in 1991, Scottish-born Byrne has been inducted into the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and reveled in solo, theatrical, art and film projects, achieving an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Grammy for his film compositions. Whilst 30 years his junior, Manhattan-based Clark has firmly established herself as a significant artist, working with Bon Iver, touring with Sufjan Stevens and releasing three solo albums, her most recent in 2011 - the particularly celebrated Strange Mercy. Filled with fluctuating narratives with moods of both zest and enigma, Love This Giant is anything but predictable, yet perfectly showcases the pair’s likeminded creativity. The opening track and lead single, Who, is currently available to download for free.

Review for TLOBF: Tubelord – R O M A N C E

thelineofbestfit.com  Record Review  Tubelord - R O M A N C E

Happy-go-lucky Kingston-based rockers Tubelord return with their second studio full-length, along with a fourth band member and a newly honed rhythmic maturity that last year’s Aztec-inspired EP Tezcatlipōca narrowly lacked. R O M A N C E is a collection of jittery noise-pop ditties brimming with a sprightly energy, neatly encapsulating early Biffy riffs with the childlike optimism of Dananananaykroyd.

The growth from a twee fidgety trio through to a fledged and tangible electro foursome is reflected through the concept behind the album. Not that R O M A N C E can be described as a ‘concept album’ per se: there is no overt mystical vein or grand operatic tale running throughout, but the album’s methodical compilation is subtly intriguing. Lead vocalist Joseph Prendergast has rejected a conventionally emotive writing stimulus in favour of a complete lack of personal attachment to the lyrics. Rather than using egocentric references to relationships or even vague abstract depictions of events that hold meaning to him, the words are a hotchpotch of borrowed and adopted references from female poets throughout history. Prendergast defines this emotional disconnectedness as putting himself in the position of reader rather than writer.

But although it could be considered a lazy method of penning lyrics, the words as an essentially meaningless device means that Prendergast’s distinctive voice plays the part of just another instrumental layer in the unpredictable swoops of spacious intervals. The jigsaw of words, sometimes ‘re-wind and double-check that’s what he actually said’ phrases drawing you in (“Sun-tusk haze of golden / east will swallow your Comic Sans lover” – These lines alone cite the works of 6 poets over 3 decades, in case you wondered).

tubelord ≈ my first castle by tubelord 

 The new presence of fourth member and producer James Elliot Field is clear throughout, as the zany and sometimes theramin-reminiscent synths (‘My First Castle’ bordering on Clangers-esque blips and bloops) add a woozy Nintendo level, distinctly separating the sound from their debut Our First American Friends.

For the Poirot wannabes amongst you, the band have created a secret password-protected online index citing the references of dozens of writers from Sylvia Plath to Carol Ann Duffy alongside the lyrics. Only the eagle-eyed fans who spot the details hidden amongst the album artwork will be able to access the expansive appendix and figure out just where those odd lyrics you thought you heard have come from.

While edgy and chipper for the most part with a few deliciously dreamy lulls (’4T3′), the album is never boring. With the help of fans trusting enough to preorder so that the band could afford to create the album, it is the first release from Pink Mist – a collaborative music group made up of Scary Monsters, Holy Roar Records and Blood & Biscuits.

(Oooo!)

Palatinate Music Review: Florence + The Machine - Lungs

Palatinate- October 2009

Olivia Swash takes a look at one of the hottest albums this summer

Unless you have been living under a rock for the whole festival season this year, there is no doubt the strikingly powerful screech of Florence Welch has been nestled amongst your Spotify summer soundtrack. The Mercury Prize nominated ginger banshee has been pushed into the limelight pre and post-debut release thanks to BBC Introducing and Steve Lamacq.

In some ways eclectic, Lungs is a fusion of animal passion and quirky fairytales fuelled by love and alcohol (Florence maintains that she is at her best state of creative mind when drunk or hungover. There is hope for us all!).

Not dissimilar to a bloodthirsty Kate Bush in her new single Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up), Florence crescendos sky high with a delicate backbone of intertwining, mellifluous harp tones. However, there are some rough edges which have been somewhat disappointingly smoothed over when her record company asked for ‘more upbeat’ tunes.

Florence, on her initial emergence with the kooky but simplistic Kiss With a Fist, was compared to fellow red-headed songstress Kate Nash and a 'rockier Lily Allen'. However this debut establishes her as a respected writer, a lover and a musician, capable of grandiose stage presence and relentlessly thrilling live performances.

Although there are some low points, the lyrics to Girl With One Eye being slightly disturbing rather than charmingly eccentric. The Source ft. Candi Staton classic You Got the Love provides a masterpiece of a cover, transforming her from nothing into a goddess of our musical age.

Lungs is out now through Island.