Placebo: Battle for the Sun
Placebo seek to Battle for the Sun on album six
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Monday, 08, Jun 2009 09:28
PIAS, out June 8th.
In a nutshell...
Loud. Powerful. Familiar. Emotional. Solid.
What's it all about?
Placebo had a bit of a falling out. After a few stadium tours, Steve Hewitt, the band's drummer since 1996 and one third of the group, left after a spat with lead singer Brian Molko and bassist Stefan Olsdal and decided to call it a day. This offering jumps off the corporate label bandwagon following deals with smaller local companies in order to secure the independence the band are now looking for.
Who's it by?
Placebo have been a firm favourite British alternative band for longer than many will remember. The masters behind albums such as Without You I'm Nothing and Sleeping With Ghosts as well as hits like The Bitter End and Bruise Pristine don't need to prove themselves to anyone. It's just a good job they love music so much, otherwise we may never have seen this release at all.
Click here to read the inthenews.co.uk interview with Placebo
As an example...
"The end of the century/I said my goodbyes/For what it's worth/I always aim to please/But I nearly died." - For What It's Worth
For What It's Worth
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Not a chance, though an honourable mention or some award for dedication to the music industry will likely fall on their laps.
What the others say
"The sun has clearly not set on this act. But from this offering, it's not getting any brighter." - Jon Bye, Gigwise
"I can give Battle for the Sun no higher praise than to say it could well prove to be the essential Placebo album." - Steve O'Rourke, CLUAS
So is it any good?
The thing is, you know exactly what you're going to get from Placebo. They start off in their typical style, too.
It's easy to like from the get-go, particularly if you're a fan of their previous work. Kitty Litter is an absolute peach of an opening track, unfolding chords which sound so beautifully dire that you'll assume they're composed of minors only.
It's surprisingly easy to enjoy music from Brian Molko, even if there's so much angst and pain in his voice that he sounds like he's wearing a jockstrap made of cheese graters. It's absolutely brilliant.
The new drummer, Steve Forrest, starts off well too. The bass is pretty basic as per, but the overall effect is graciously accepted.
That is, of course, until the second song Ashtray Heart starts. It's difficult to see exactly what the band are attempting here, but it's a bit... rubbish. The vocals don't match up to the strange ensemble of regular instruments and an annoying synthesised ditty. Many will soon remember that Placebo have two sides to them: the classics, then the rest.
But then there's another switcheroo: the third track, Battle for the Sun, is really bloody good. The bass-heavy sounds take a while to give way to the traditionally frantic breakdown after around a minute. Placebo have still got it, even if they seem to forget it in passing every now and again.
Track four, the already-popular For What It's Worth, seems like it was only released beforehand because it's the one song which sounds like ten-year-old Placebo: it's a safe choice. It's also a good song; the refrain to a digital circus track is hilariously playable and the screechy guitar riff is top notch.
You'll realise at this point that the album doesn't really know what it wants to be, though consistency is certainly not near the top of the list.
It carries on like this throughout. For example, Julien is brilliant and insufferable at the same time. It goes through so many evolutions of style that it sounds more like an epic story-telling tune by Coheed and Cambria.
Other tracks completely take you by surprise; The Never-Ending Why, for example, is fantastic, incorporating a brass section and some strange melodies to give a pretty haunting sound. Elsewhere, Kings of Medicine couldn't be more out of place on this album if it tried and is seemingly engineered solely as a quiet, sombre way of ending the release. I still don't know if I like it or not.
Fans of the band's previous works won't need another reason to listen to this as they know what to expect. People who have emptied their head of Placebo since Meds will rediscover their love for the pained lyrics and skilled guitar work. Those who never liked them in the first place have an outside chance of getting into their new offering, though too many similarities to previous outings may be a bit too nostalgic for them.
The so-called problem that creates this divide is down to Brian Molko. Regardless of the heavy notes which surround his vocals, the voice always wins out. It's essentially a fourth instrument and the loudest and most powerful one at that. Brian Molko's voice is one of the most recognisable sounds doing the rounds in the last 15 years; if you were sick of it the first few times, nothing's going to change now.
It's all much of the same with this release, really. There are a few good tracks on Battle for the Sun but the rest seem to fall by the wayside or don't make enough of an impression. If you're unsure, get hold of Kitty Litter, For What It's Worth, The Never-Ending Why and the title track. If you enjoy them, take a gamble on the rest.
Despite a generally normal outing this time around, there's still a reason to like Placebo and there always was. It's not fair to deny them of the praise they deserve for releasing a competent independent release after a band split and three years out of the public eye.
7/10
Matt Gardner
Watch Placebo talking about the album and in pre-production rehearsals below: