Kasabian
48:13

Matching the levels of the latest album Velociraptor! is no small feat, but Kasabian defend themselves well and return with 48:13, which without mincing words Serge Pizzorno, guitarist and songwriter of the now famous band from Leicester, has crowned as their best album; the classic sensational phrase one expects from musicians with ego like Pizzorno in anticipation of a new record release.

The album nevertheless delivers impressive and terribly catchy tunes - perhaps even too much - but frontman Tom Meighan always manages to interpret well-made vocal tracks – always written hand in hand with his Italian-English partner, there's no wandering on that - and the tracks work even when imposing a sound on the verge of psychedelia. After the intro “(Shiva)” the first impactful track, in every sense, is “Bumblebeee”, which recalls the chaotic style of the beginnings, an appetizer compared to the first great Kasabian piece, that “Stevie” that I dare to say will be a track destined to be released as a single, as well as a live powerhouse, also to break from the overly commercial image of the album offered with the release of the single “Eez-eh”.

“Doomsday” and “Treat” are the classic tracks where the band manages to express its 'flashy' side, heavily sampling and contaminating the sound with psychedelic effects reminiscent of space pop. There are also less direct and a bit more complex tracks like “Glass” and “Explodes” that seem to be sung by Pizzorno – awaiting confirmation from what the album booklet says – who has never hidden his desire to be the prima donna, and this time he succeeds more than well.

Also present are some 60s-70s revivals now a trademark of the group like “Clouds”, and there’s even the track already ready to be remixed and played everywhere, which is the aforementioned single “Eez-eh”, at first almost unlistenable for the irreverent approach with which the band interfaces with pop music, but after all, the guys have never hidden their passion for techno and the track is pleasant in the long run. Closing with the excellent “Bow”, once again the vocals seem to be Pizzorno's, who once more revisits everything and shuffles the deck.

Perhaps it's precisely in this lack of homogeneity that resides one of the few weak points of this album which, in terms of approach and quality, does not fail, but presents many sudden genre changes and various experiments, yet at the same time 48:13 appears in its way as part of a great puzzle which is Kasabian's career and which now accustoms us with each release to pieces that fit perfectly, creating a design, a product, an outcome that today is undoubtedly among the most original and successful in the entire world rock scene.