Review by David Beech
Bucking the current coincidental trend of second albums
released by bands this January are Scotland's Biffy Clyro who today
released their sixth studio album entitled Opposites. Hailing from Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire the band really
need little introduction after their fifth album, 2009s Only Revolutions spawned
the bands first top-ten single in the form of 'Mountains' which débuted at
number 5 and served to extend the bands touring schedule as their popularity
rose in turn causing the longest length of time in between album releases, a
period of three years.
Opposites is a double album, a first for the band,
and is best described as kind of dichotomy of sounds. The first half of the
album entitled The Sand at the Core of Our Bones is described by singer
Simon Neil as being “about putting things in the
worst possible way and thinking you're getting yourself into a hole.” The music isn't necessarily melancholic or sad but there is
an anger behind the music that wasn't present during Only Revolutions.
This can be attributed, according to interviews with the band, to the sense of
alienation found after prolong periods of touring with Only Revloutions.
The opening track titled
'Different People' builds with an organ followed by the unmistakable sound of
Neil's vocals that straight away let's you know you're in familiar territory.
The song is melodic, even by the bands more recent standards however it works
well for them and you can hear the progression from the last album. The chorus
of “I am going home/Forever and ever more/No, I was never born and there's
no such thing as home/We used to stand so strong/That's why the others have
gone” is classic Biffy Clyro. It's both uplifting in it's sound and
delivery whilst the lyrics cover a darker subject matter that is evident
throughout the first half of the album.
Track two will be familiar to fans
already as the first single off the album: 'Black Chandelier'. The song is a
radio-friendly lament that describes feelings no longer reciprocated within a
relationship.
This theme is continued in to
track four 'Opposites' which is slow and melodic with a subtle string-section
carrying the song.
Fans of earlier Biffy Clyro will
be pleased to learn that the earlier math-rock sounds of albums such as Vertigo
of Bliss are still there and are most prominent on tracks 'Sounds Like
Baloons',
'The Jokes On Us' and especially 'Little Hospitals'. While
this might be a point of contention between fans; the inclusion of obscure
time-signatures is something Biffy aficionados will be pleased to hear, while
the focus the radio-friendly sounds exhibited through Only Revolutions
will keep even the most fair-weather fan happy and will certainly secure them
fans in a generation not yet introduced to the band.
The second half of Opposites is a different story all
together; described again by Neil as “looking more positively” when
compared to the first half of the albums bleak outlook on life. This is
immediately obvious as track 12 (or track one) 'Stingin' Belle' kicks in. Fans
will have heard this track before, as it was the first song to receive radio
airplay from the album and, although technically not a single, the song was
available via download.
Track 14 'Spanish Radio' will
surprise fans with the inclusion of a mariachi trumpet, which aids Neil's
claims of the second half of the album being more upbeat and optimistic.
Spanish brass inclusions aside, this does feel like the stadium-filling Biffy
Clyro that you've come to expect and the songs dynamics rise and fall in a
dramatic fashion that stems from years of song writing.
'Pocket' is perhaps the most
accessible Biffy Clyro song yet. Harbouring pop sensibilities that will be
recognisable to those familiar with Neil's sideproject Marmaduke Duke,
the track is sweet and punchy with a simple piano melody running throughout.
However the sweetness of the track makes the next track 'Trumpet or Tap' seem
really quite jarring. The changing time-signatures will once again be a welcome
relief to some but when included after 'Pocket' really detract from the overall
feel of the song despite it's chorus being one of the more memorable from the
over all record.
Perhaps the strongest three songs
from the entire album are reserved for the finale. 'Accident Without Emergency'
is probably the best of the three. A marching drum beat coupled with
fantastically audible bass drives the song forward while an understated
math-rock guitar ornaments the verses. 'Woo Woo' is as a aggressive a song as
you're likely to find on the album and one which will please old fans as much
as intrigue new ones and will sure to be a crowd-pleaser live. 'Picture A Knife
Fight' is the penultimate song on the album (the last being an instrumental)
and is a contender for best song on the album. As it the song plays out and
Neil is singing “We've got to stick together”, you can't help but feel
totally uplifted, although why we have to wait until the closing minutes of the
album to hear songs as strong as the aforementioned is anyone's guess.
The releasing a double album is
usually reserved for bands who are so wrapped up in their own sense of self
importance they feel that all the tracks they write between albums are worthy
of making the final cut and for bands that feel a 'greatest hits' album with
the inclusion of a few B-sides is a worthwhile substitute for new material.
However that doesn't feel the case with Opposites. At times the album
may be spread fairly thinly, with a couple of tracks feeling like filler.
Nevertheless this is a strong album, albeit not career-defining. The idea of a
double-album so as to play on the dichotomous nature of the songs featuring on
each disk is at once both interesting and bordering on the pretentious.
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