New Releases - 9th February

New Releases - 9th February

04 February, 2009
by: Music Team

*Single of the Week*
Telepathe – So Fine
IAMSOUND 

The latest release from Telepathe's debut album, 'So Fine' is an outstanding track. Ethereal, almost child-like vocals are set against cascading synthesizers and a fluctuating beat. As the drums pound and they chant sinister lyrics like 'death is in this heart' you might be inclined to dance but then comes the hook. The synths expand, the notes start to linger and fade and the effect is hypnotic – more trance than dance. 

Eerie, intangible and beautifully dreamy. EM


Alesha Dixon – Breathe Slow
Polydor

Will Alesha be number 1 next week? She might, since she's at number 6 already on downloads alone. But it'd be a shame: her follow-up to the lively 'The Boy Does Nothing' is rancid, formulaic drivel.

It's a blatant, cynical Leona clone – successful judging by pre-sales but doing Alesha no favours by comparing her to someone who can actually sing. The melody, auto-tuned voice and vaguely empowered nonsense lyrics are all from the Cynical Pop Operator's Manual – 2008 Edition. JH


Crystal Stilts – Departure
Angular

After setting NY alight with an amazing show at CMJ last year, everybody has been talking about the Crystal Stilts, so the first single was always going to be a bit make or break.

'Departure' doesn't really live up to expectations, it more screams 'how dare you doubt ME' right in your face. A moody organ led dirge, this sounds like The Velvet Underground, Guided By Voices and The Sonics all partying in a surf shack after a nuclear apocalypse and they've just passed you the hash pipe. DH


James Yuill – No Surprise
Moshi Moshi

Basically, this song is telling you to 'chill out'. Now if there's one thing guaranteed to drive me absolutely wild and most likely lead to violence to the facial area, it's being told to 'chill out' when I am clearly not in a 'chilled out' mood. My friends know this, some from experience.

James Yuill looks like a chilled out guy – not the type to lose his cool. His music's ambient, electronic and folky. He makes it on a laptop and he likes Nick Drake. No Surprise. LC


Thunderheist – Sweet 16
Big Dada

This Canadian duo is hotly tipped to become absolutely massive in 2009, and on this evidence it's not hard to see why: a pounding disco beat with ridiculously heavy bass levels and some nonce-friendly raps about picking up underage girls.

It's perhaps a bit too simplistic to get truly excited about, but there is no denying the track's huge crossover potential. Not only will it be huge in clubs, but they've shrewdly covered the dirty-old-man market as well. MH


Morrissey – I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Decca Records

This song is apparently not a declaration of love by the soon-to-be-50 Stephen Patrick Morrissey for laudable blonde heiress Paris Hilton. More's the pity – what a combo that could have been.

No, this is a standard 'nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I think I'll go eat worms' number from the once great man. Morrissey's lyrics are at their best when they allude to some kind of narrative specificity. But this is a broad empty wash: even the rest of the band look bored. TJ


My Chemical Romance - Desolation Row
Reprise

A controversial choice for anyone who is actually a fan of music, covering Dylan's 'Desolation Row' was probably a no-brainer for My Chemical Romance. Their version poses little threat to a fanbase of unlikely-to-give-a-monkey's-about-Dylan preened emo kids.

Famously enigmatic lyrics have been ruthlessly taken from their acoustic cradle and fuddled around an anthemic Fall-Out-Boy-does-The-Clash riffmatic slodge. I'm all for musical free trade but this fails on so many levels it's embarrassing. It's sort of funny... though obviously not funny at all. LS


The Soft Pack - Nightlife
1928

They've been getting the music industry types hot under the collar for some time now and they're finally on their way to the UK, but are 'The Soft Pack' really as good as everyone says?  Their debut single 'Nightlife' begins well with a thudding bass beat and Matt Lamkin's vocals give the track a simplistic retro quality.

So far so good, but in the immortal words of Public Enemy: Don't believe the hype. They're good; they're just not that good. GS


Saint Etienne – Method of Modern Love / This is Tomorrow
Universal

Two of my youthful heroes make forays into my adult life this week. Whilst Morrissey is a let-down, Saint Etienne fare slightly better. The shimmering synth sheen is still in evidence and Sarah Cracknell's voice still combines sugar-coated allure with something icily aloof.

'Method of Modern Love' is a typical sliver of shininess, but also a trifle dull. 'This is Tomorrow', however, has that dark undertone that characterises Saint Etienne's best stuff – the tain that enables a mirror to reflect, perhaps. TJ


The Killers – Spaceman
Island

Having managed to avoid listening to The Killers since their first album, I had forgotten just how appalling they are. 'Spaceman' sees them really scraping the barrel of synth-based mediocrity, sort of like Mr Brightside except without any discernible melody.

Brandon Flowers is running out of ideas for lyrics too, here offering us a derivative tale of abduction and subsequent probing by aliens. I wish someone would abduct him – and violently probe him until he agrees to stop making records. MH


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Music Team