New Music Update: Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Kasabian

It’s been a pretty damn packed couple of months for, well, music fans with taste strongly aligned with mine. One of those fans, for example, being myself. Yes, pick your jaw up off of the floor. “Wasting Light” (the new Foo Fighters record) burst onto the scene in April, giving us a a good amount of time to appreciate just how fucking good it was. There’s a limit to how much lightning-fast strumming a human being can tolerate though, so I was ecstatic when the new Arctic Monkeys album, “Suck It And See” (given a not too shabby 7.5 in my recent review) was being officially streamed on the ‘net in its entirety a whole week before the album’s release on June 6th. Needless to say, I listened to it a hell of a lot during that period – but I can’t stand overplaying music, so I won’t be listening to it again until I actually purchase the bloody thing; it’s only fair, right?

Alas, this is not the 'Blue' who entered Eurovision

Fortunately, with barely even a second to relax and take a breather, Coldplay decided to unveil their new single, from their as yet untitled 5th studio album. The fan response is incredibly mixed so far, which isn’t remotely surprising. Coldplay isn’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea, and I can’t help but feel a little bit sorry for Chris Martin…he’s a decent bloke, and a decent singer; can’t really fault him. Ever since their debut album, “Parachutes”, the band have been strongly and probably only slightly harshly labelled as a group that intend to depress, not necessarily impress. I personally, strongly disagree, although it’s certainly true that when I’m feeling down I’ll listen to more Coldplay than any other artist. For me, it’s great that they have such a strong purpose, whereas other bands may be left by the wayside a bit, unable to compete with the the thick mire of bands to listen to any or all of or none of the time. Perhaps, after 4 incredibly successful albums, Coldplay have found some confidence – I just don’t know. They’ve got some positivity from somewhere though, because it seems to be that “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall” is one of Coldplay’s biggest leaps forward yet. The song is remarkably upbeat. Lyrically it’s also all rather jolly, all rather Coldplayish, and all rather poor (“Cathedrals in my heart.” SERIOUSLY?!). Musically, it follows an unorthodox structure – one that ignores ‘verse, chorus, verse, chorus’ and simply flows from start to finish. It’s by no stretch of the imagination a bad piece of music, and it’s sure to be a hit – perhaps the biggest song of the summer? Who knows. As far as new material from one of my favourite bands goes though, it’s remarkably unremarkable, this making it actually remarkable for the wrong reasons. Ha. I would describe the track in detail for you, but I see no point when simply listening to it would be the best idea for now; I’ve not heard it enough times to fully grasp it yet. I’m glad we’re seeing a change in direction for the band though, because not only is it time they cheered the fuck up a bit, but they surely would have become a little bit stale had they not decided to refresh themselves this time around. And admittedly, though I may not prefer it, on the grand scheme of things the visual style they’re going for seems to work really well. There’s a very colourful vibe, based on old-school American graffiti going on, and this vibrant, jubilant style very much comes across in the music too. It must also be mentioned that “Every Teardrop…” wins the award for Most Bagpipe-esque Guitar Riff of the Year by an absolute country mile. Nice.

Soon.

Moving on, recently Anthony Kiedis finally decided to announce some details about the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ forthcoming 10th studio album. It’s amazing to think that their self titled debut was released all the way back in 1984…blimey. Much to your glee, the album will NOT be called “Dr Johnny Skinz’s Disproportionately Rambunctious Polar Express Machine-Head” as was once reported thanks to some acid inspired ‘inspiration’ from Kiedis. What do you mean you thought he was constantly sober? No, he’s not sXe… After hearing the actual album title for the first time, your feeling of glee may very much transform into disappointment. This one’s a real stinker; devoid of any humour, originality, or intelligence. Conciseness is its only claim to fame, I’m afraid. “I’m With You”. Unfortunately Chilis, I’m not with you on this one, but I still have reasonably high hopes for the music itself…it’s just so depressing to feel my anticipation and excitement levels drop so dramatically. Apprehension is the order of the day. The first single from the album, according to drummer Chad Smith’s Twitter was reported to be “The Adventures of Raindance Maggie” – though this tweet has since been taken down, indicating that in actual fact they’re as yet undecided. It’s also apparently going to be a 12 track-strong album. Yeah, less than half the size of 2006’s Stadium Arcadium… I just don’t know what to think any more, and with an August 30th release date, there’s still a good deal more thinking time left to make the most of. Deep joy.

Kasabian - bien?

After two servings of relative disappointment, a bit more good news could really be done with here, and thankfully I’m pleased to tell you that we certainly have some. Kasabian have decided to thrust their first segment of material from their slowly approaching September-slated 4th album, “Velociraptor!” (kudos for the title). The track’s called “Switchblade Smile”, and is being released in a very similar manner to “Vlad The Impaler” from 2009’s “West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum”. Early impressions are good. Very good. Sometimes, a certain loop, beat, riff, lyric, or drum fill will connect with me in some way, and bring out an immediate reaction. The first couple of minutes of “Switchblade Smile” did this for me; that dirty, oh so dirty electric buzz…followed by those drums… It’s not as though the song is even particularly brilliant. It’s good, but no more. What makes the new album so promising is that this is just an album track, and the style they seem to have gone for really works, for me. The main reason I’m so psyched for “Velociraptor!” though, can be found in comments from the band’s 2 main creative men, Sergio Pizzorno and Tom Meighan. They’ve basically been piping up about the album in various interviews, ‘bigging it up’ and telling of how the writing and recording process has been so speedy this time around, as though they’d been taken over by some supernatural ‘spirit’. As you do. The thing is, it doesn’t come across as cockiness. Serge genuinely believes he’s written a whole album of dynamite music. On balance, I’d say I’m now more hyped for Kasbian’s next album than I am for any other album due for release in 2011. As for Coldplay and RHCP, I can’t help but worry.