Artist: White Lies
Title: To Lose My Life...
Label: Polydor
Genre: Indie
Bitrate: 202kbit av.
Time: 00:45:00
Size: 68.71 mb
Rip Date: 2009-01-15
Str Date: 2009-01-19
1. Death 5:01
2. To Lose My Life 3:11
3. A Place To Hide 5:02
4. Fifty On Our Foreheads 4:21
5. Unfinished Business 4:20
6. E.S.T. 5:03
7. From The Stars 4:53
8. Farewell To The Fairground 4:19
9. Nothing To Give 4:12
10. The Price Of Love 4:38
Release Notes:
On a certain indie music site recently there was a thread
about White Lies, and a comment in this thread ran "Joy
Division > Interpol > Editors > White Lies". Now despite
containing remnants of the truth and being correct on a purely
qualitative basis, this was slightly unfair and more than a
little misguided. This post implied that White Lies are the
last in line for the scraping of the the baritone barrel of
Curtis and co, but, aside from some obvious steals, the end
result points in sleeker, poppier direction.
If only someone had told frontman Harry McVeigh. McVeigh's
voice and presence totally dominate 'To Lose My Life', but his
vocals are closer to Julian Cope or Ian McCulloch rather than
Ian Curtis. No problems there then, instead it is bassist
Charles Cave's facile death obsessed lyrics that provide a
sticking point to enjoyment and ultimately provide ammunition
to those wishing to paint the band as lazy Joy Division
pastichists. At times this works; "everything has got to be
love or death" on 'Death' could pretty much some up the whole
record in a line but at other times the effect is more like
6th form poetry: "There's a part of me that still believes
that my soul will soar above the trees."
Almost every song features a mention of death, graveyards or
funerals and, for a man seemingly obsessed with meeting his
maker, McVeigh's vocals sound fairly calm throughout - 'A
Place To Hide' being a prominent case in point. Not to wish
death on anyone of course but such faux-doom mongering has no
depth and he may as well be singing about a slightly
concerning mess in the living room rather than the end of his
days. There are also a wealth of Editors-lite lyrics: "fate
always loses hope/ like electric sparks in my heart".
Musically 'To Lose My Life' is more indebted to 'Hot Fuss'
than 'Unknown Pleasures'; the record is extremely sleek and
has the polish you'd expect from such a high profile major
label debut. They certainly shouldn't need to re-release
'Death' or 'Unfinished Business' as the album is brimming with
potential singles. The production is also huge - every guitar
line and shimmer of synth glistens while the rhythm section is
suitably powerful, although there doesn't seem to be much
evidence of personality or individual style in the playing.
Early single 'Unfinished Business' sees White Lies at their
best, merging more subtle dark overtones with a solid pop
sensibility, and incorporating a simplicity in the lyrics that
manages to avoid the clumsiness of some of the rhyming
couplets on the album, packing in a very indie-disco friendly
chorus as McVeigh yearns for a chance to "dance like we used
to".
'From The Stars' is a tale of a disconnected star returning to
his home town for (you guessed it) a funeral. The star is at
first obnoxious and emotionless but as the memories comes
flooding back he realises his happiness is only on the
surface. It sounds cheesy, it is cheesy and somewhat obvious
but it works thanks to some big pop hooks and, once again,
that fantastic production. It's indicative of the whole record
in fact - it seems fairly contrived throughout but given a few
listens and you'll be singing along to nearly every track. In
a way everything about White Lies is reminiscent of The
Killers covering 'Shadowplay', a similar production ethic and
the effect of a band wanting to play with the big issues, but
obviously more at home with a dash of 80s influences and some
big tunes.
Despite these criticisms the whole of 'To Lose My Life' is
undeniably catchy, pretty well executed and listenable -
provided you're not listening too hard - and will probably do
really well. After all, those Killers and Editors fans will
need something to move on to, and with the recession kicking
in theyÆre bound to want a darker listen. Although the
question of where they will buy the record still remains...