Placebo
Life's What You Make It

The year 2016 is a very important one for Placebo.

Twenty years ago, the British band debuted with an excellent debut LP, that "Placebo" which began a career that, through ups and downs, has made Brian Molko and company a solid point of reference in the current pop rock scene.

It's a twentieth anniversary celebrated (of course) with a new tour, but also with two new music releases: along with a double best-of collection called "A Place For Us To Dream", comes this new "Life's What You Make It" EP, containing six tracks (two covers, two live versions, and two brand new tracks).

The single "Jesus Son" also serves as a launch piece for the aforementioned best-of, and it is a track perfectly in line with Placebo's latest production: enhanced by a unique video shot in Sardinia, it’s lively and very melodic pop rock, with lovely drum passages at the end showcasing the good creativity of newcomer Matt Lunn behind the skins (ex Colour Of Fire). The opener and title track is a beautiful cover of Talk Talk: it certainly doesn't beat the original, but it’s a good remake built around Molko's always splendid voice, which helps make it less energetic in the rhythmic section but more accessible and expressive.

"Autoluminescent" (the original is by Rowland S. Howard), much darker and more claustrophobic, with its dull minimalism recalls certain past episodes of Placebo like "Space Monkey" and "Something Rotten".

"Song #6", the other new track, is the true surprise of the EP: the hope is that it’s a faithful indication of the fresh direction undertaken by the band in anticipation of a new album of originals, as it brilliantly fuses the two sides exhibited so far by the British trio (the more alt rock side of the early days and the more melodic side of the latest productions), fine-tuning the aim with a pleasant electronic dusting and a beautiful electric progression at the end. A truly remarkable piece, perhaps wasted for a simple EP but obviously welcome.

The new work is completed by two live versions of the essential "Twenty Years" (originally a new single for the old collection "Once More With Feeling" from 2005): the first is a surprising faster and more rock-focused version (probably how it would have already been released if Placebo hadn’t had, at that time, the desire to shift their sound toward an electronic turn, a desire shipwrecked with "Meds" from 2006 which marked a return to more minimalist guitar play). The second showcases a simple piano and voice arrangement, a wide-open goal for the virtuosic vocals of leader Molko.

In conclusion, a good EP, a delightful appetizer for what is to come, hoping that the splendid "Song #6" is a faithful path for Placebo’s future adventures.

Best track: Song #6