Arctic Monkeys have revealed the artwork for their new album "Humbug", due to be released on 24th August. The photo was taken by photographer Guy Aroch at Electric Lady Studios in New York, where the band recorded their third album.
"In a man's life, there are two important dates : his birth and his death. Everything we do in between is not very important."
Ne Me Quitte Pas was written after Suzanne Gabriello, Brel's girlfriend at the time, put an end to their relationship. Zizou was pregnant with his child and had an abortion after Brel refused fatherhood. Jacques would later admit in an interview that the song is not a love song, but rather one about the cowardice of men.
Having gone into relative obscurity over these past couple of years, Leicester band Kasabian finally released their 3rd album, "West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum". No wait, it hasn't been released yet, but will be on June the 8th.
You probably know Kasabian as being part of the 2004-2005 wave of British bands comprising the more successful Franz Ferdinand or Arctic Monkeys, among others. Not surprisingly, lead singer Tom Meighan has said that on the new album they tried to take a distance from that and establish a unique Kasabian style. That is a very bold statement from someone who, when asked to describe the new album, came up with the succinct and brash: beautiful. Suffice it to say, that was not the impression I got after a whole host of listens.
"West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum" (an intentional tongue twister title for sure) is supposed to be a concept album about..., well nobody knows for sure. Lyrically it's all over the place, ranging from tales of blood thirsty characters to social critique of modern life, to swaggers about living life to the fullest and so on. Not afraid of being too pretentious, on the track "West Ryder/Silver Bullet" there is a spoken part from a passage in the film "Sans Soleil" by Chris Marker. "In that moment, poetry will be made by everyone" could be a subtle sarcastic self-reference that I wouldn't put past them. The opening track "Underdog" is in my opinion the best song on the whole album. It is basically a redoing of "Club Foot", a powerful driving riff easily remembered, accompanied by the sort of vocals Tom has always been best at. The very next track is another highlight, "Where Did All The Love Go?" has an infectious rhythm, with Sergio Pizzorno's whiny voice singing the chorus whether you like it or not. When I first heard the intro to "Fast Fuse" I instantly thought of Radiohead's "Sulk", but the song itself is anything but a sulk, Serge's trademark throbbing guitar providing the buildup for Tom Meighan's explosive rough vocal style. "Thick As Thieves" is perhaps one of the points of departure from their earlier albums, Sergio sings this ballad quite decently and also adds a touch of Mariachi guitar along with the indispensable "la-la-la"s.
"West Ryder/Silver Bullet" features a contribution from actress Rosario Dawson as well as subtle Eastern influences in an attempt to create something that might come across as psychedelic to some. First single "Fire" is again, like "Underdog", a straighforward Kasabian rocker with sparse electronics thrown in as usual. Album closer "Happiness" is about as cheesy as you can get. For one we have Serge's fretful voice again for reasons that I can't understand being as Tom has superior power and range an frankly even a more suitable tone. Second, a gospel choir really should have no place in rock'n'roll.
Entertaining music it is, thought provoking it is not. Passionate creative spirit it required; original, unprecedented ideas it did not. Sensible, just commendation it deserves, undue praise it does not.
After gaining worldwide success and recognition with The Knife, Karin Dreijer Andersson went for the higly fashionable custom of coming out with a solo album of her own, which came out earlier this year under the name Fever Ray.
As you would expect, the songs are a step sideways (if not forward) from her work with The Knife. The electro foundations are still strong but maybe a little less on the techno side (as was the earlier release Silent Shout). Fever Ray songs don't have that kind of impact and energy but they do make up for it in atmospherics and gentle layering of various instruments and drum patterns. The album flows steadily with moderate pace and there are no real highlight tracks, as the record's general tone is intended to make it more of a chillout experience at the expense of entertainment.
You can play the whole album on the official website here. I recommend the song Triangle Walks for an enjoyable Honk Kong triad style arrangement and the perfect tune for walking down empty streets at night (if you're into that kind of thing) which is cleverly named Keep The Streets Empty For Me.
PS: The intro to the song in the video up there has an X-Files feel that I just couldn't resist. Listen, tell me what you think...
