Thirteen Senses: Contact
Thirteen Senses return with Contact
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Monday, 02, Apr 2007 07:19
Mercury Records, out now.
In a nutshell
Second album rule holds true
What's it all about
Thirteen Senses emerged in the post-Keane era of autumn 2004, with piano rock 'pioneers' Coldplay having already achieved supergroup status.
Contact is the melancholic Cornwall fourpiece's follow-up to their 2004 gold-selling debut album The Invitation.
Originally scheduled to go on sale in the new year, the group claimed to have an epiphany moment while on tour and delayed it until April to include new material.
Who's it by
The wispishly named Thirteen Senses, made up of Will South on vocals, guitar and piano; lead guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Welham; Adam Wilson on bass and Brendon James on drums; are undeniably best known for Into the Fire, the emotive second single release from The Invitation.
Although it only peaked at 35 in the charts it gained massive airplay through extensive use on idents and trailers for a raft of TV programmes, including Big Brother, Match of the Day and (inevitably) US firefighter drama Rescue Me.
The group's third single Thru the Glass handed them their highest chart position at 18, but buoyed by Into the Fire's ubiquitous nature, The Invitation went on to sell more than 100,000 copies.
As an example.
"If only there was time to say it all/I'd say it all/If only every sound that I made said it all/Oh distant warning/Contact, warning, out of control." (Contact)
"I know your body's like a cloud/Floating around the softer side of things you know/I know you like to let it out/For me it's just a kind of pressure coming out.
"Oh no/How did it come to this/Making your way back home thinking oh no/What is it about this/Trying to break the code." (Ones and Zeroes)
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammy
Surprisingly high. Not as an awards contender obviously but as a soundtrack to the proper nominees.
What the others say
"After the excitement of what would follow from their debut, it has sadly been replaced by a mulled anticlimax. Come on boys try letting your hair down and show us what you're really made of," Entertainmentwise.
"Contact is trying its hardest to be profound, pretty, powerful, and passionate, but Thirteen Senses are a soporific piano band; every pitch they swing for, they miss," Stylus.
So is it any good?
When Thirteen Senses reared their heads in September 2004 they were quickly labelled the new Keane, who had already been lazily dubbed the new Coldplay. The similarities between the bands are pretty obvious, namely the reliance on piano melodies, the emotive lyrics and the little-boy-lost vocals of the lead singer.
But whereas Keane evolved marginally with last year's Under the Iron Sea and Coldplay disappeared from the radar completely after X&Y in an attempt to regain their outsider critical status, Thirteen Senses have come up with an album that sounds ridiculously dated.
The quiet whisper harmonic openings of Follow Me and Under the Sun are so similar to Chris Martin circa 2002 to be almost funny, while new single All the Love in your Hands failed attempt at edginess sounds like Idlewild-lite.
It's a shame too, because the band obviously have some talent somewhere, but until they find a voice that is nothing other than their own, chart obscurity and TV trailer jingles are the best they can hope for.
5/10
Matthew Champion