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Rating: Expected at their second test after the reassuring self-titled debut, the four very young musicians from Leeds confirm what they did in their debut. Psychedelia+hard rock+ballads reduced to a minimum= The Music. Yes, indeed, these are the ingredients of one of the most interesting bands to emerge from the British music scene in recent years. With a singer as unwatchable as he is talented (and I assure you, he's really unwatchable...), the band, in this album, nods to several bands, such as Mars Volta, Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, Verve from "A Storm In Heaven," and Jane's Addiction (compare Robert Harvey's stunning voice with Perry Farrell's to believe it...).
The leading single, "Freedom Fighters," convinces at first listen, with a delightful snare/hi-hat play at the beginning (which recurs throughout the track) introducing us to a rather hard, psychedelic, and engaging rock. A beautifully "effect-laden" solo adds that extra touch of class and technique to a track that would otherwise have definitely been below the album average.
In "Bleed From Within," the guitars are hard, acid, distorted, the voice splendid and in great shape as always, the bass not very virtuosic but crucial to the structure of the song. All this is completed by the inclusion of some typically "Afro" instruments like percussion and bongos (which can also be found in the rest of the album) and which add that extra touch of cheerfulness to an album with much less dark tones than its predecessor. "Breakin" is perhaps the best episode and encapsulates all the essence of The Music. Four minutes of pure Jane's Addiction/Led Zeppelin-style rock that adds nothing new to the style of the British quartet, but confirms that at the very young age of 20, you can make technical albums (but not too much) without tiring the listener.
"Fight The Feeling" is the only track that slightly breaks the rhythm of the entire album. A very simple ballad, with minimal drum parts, and a delicate and very light guitar arpeggio in the background, showing The Music in a rather dark version, in full debut-album style, as are the "Into The Night," where the band's intimacy emerges at the top. Traces of Verve-style pop-rock in "Guide," with an almost always steady rhythm and easy listening.
"Cessation" and "I Need Love" have rhythms, like "Freedom Fighters," quite "danceable," whose strength is surely the live performance. The band indeed delivers a decidedly excellent live performance, both for the instrumental part (definitely high-level) and the vocal part (equally exceptional). These two characteristics can also be found in the studio recordings, where the band seems to have the exact same flair as in their live performances.
One of the countless (but best) bands with "The" does not churn out, as now seems customary, a banal rock'n'roll-clone album, but puts forth a mature album, above the average of the records produced in recent times, with a perhaps less psychedelic sound than the first but more sunny (in the music, but not in the lyrics). Inferior but perhaps more complete than the first work, an album that makes us understand how even at 20, you can produce decidedly mature, complete albums without particular flaws or weaknesses.
"I love this mess
It makes me feel
Throughout my life
You are my guide"
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Welcome to the North (05:10)
My time is empty
And I want, I want to break free
Their minds, your minds are always closed
But your mouths, your mouths are always open
You see, you can see, you see the numbers
You see, you can see, you see the numbers
You see, you can see, you see the numbers
You see, you can see, you see the numbers
Where I'm from
Is not who, who I am
But now I'm facing some questions
And they're not, not quite what I want
You know the numbers
Show me the knuckles baby
You know the numbers
Show, show me the knuckles baby
You know the numbers
Show me the knuckles baby
You know the numbers
Welcome to the north
Welcome to the north
Welcome to the north
Oh welcome to the north
You know the numbers
Show me the knuckles baby
You know the numbers
Show, show me the knuckles baby
You know the numbers
Show me the knuckles baby
You know the numbers
Welcome to the north
Welcome to the north
Welcome to the north
Oh welcome to the north
I don't want this
When I come home
It's where I'm from
Yeah it's where I'm from
Yeah it's where I was born
Yeah it's where I'm from
You see, you see the numbers
You see, you see the numbers
You see, you see the numbers
02 Freedom Fighters (03:44)
I don't know
Why these people can't get it on
And what you didn't know
That its just people having fun, yeah
I thought that there was something going wrong with me
I thought that everyone in this life should be free
But now i'm feeling lost and something here is wrong
Would you come and let me sing to people
Come and help me sing this song
Dance for the freedom
Fighters of the world
Feel the walls
She's real real love
They don't love you
They love you on your way
I don't love you babe though,
It's ok
Yeah
In this rain
It makes it harder than it needs to be
What you didn't know
That is it always gonna stay this way, yeah
I thought that there was something going wrong with me
I thought that everyone in this life should be free
But now I'm feeling lost and something here is wrong
Would you come and let me sing to people
Come and help me sing this song
Dance for the freedom
Fighters of the world
Feel the walls
She's real real love
They don't love you
They love you on your way
I don't love you babe though,
It's ok
Dance for the freedom
Fighters of the world
Feel the walls
She's real real love
They don't love you
They love you on your way
I don't love you babe though,
It's ok
Its just another song yeah
Nah nah nah no
04 Breakin' (03:58)
Going away there's nothing to stay for
Everything we do is some disease
Love is hidden by your fear
So don't make the mistake
Can't sit down
And I can't stand up
Cos if I do I know I'm gonna break
I can't stay in, and I can't go out
Cos if I do I know I'm gonna break
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh yeah
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh ohhh
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh uh-oh
Cos you know I'm gonna break
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh yeah
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh ohhh
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh uh-oh
Maybe the wait
Maybe the weight
Is too much for me to hold
Love is something
Nothing ever feels this way
It's time to come back
Can't sit down, and I can't stand up
Cos if I do I know I'm gonna break
I can't stay in, and I can't go out
Cos if I do I know I'm gonna break
Can't sit down, and I can't stand up
Cos if I do I know I'm gonna break
I can't stay in, and I can't go out
Cos if I do I know I'm gonna break
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh yeah
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh ohhh
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh uh-oh
Cos you know I'm gonna break
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh yeah
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh ohhh
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh uh-oh
Can't sit down, and I can't stand up
Cos if I do I know I'm gonna break
I can't stay in, and I can't go out
Cos if I do I know I'm gonna break
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh yeah
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh ohhh
Uh-oh-uh-oh uh-oh uh-oh
Cos you know I'm gonna
Can't sit down, and I can't stand up
Cos if I do I know I'm gonna break
I can't stay in, and I can't go out
Cos if I do I know I'm gonna break
05 Cessation (03:51)
I never want to be
I never want to be like you
I wanna be myself
But you make me out to be somebody else
And I live in pain
And I love the darkness of my mind
Cos it makes me feel
You know it makes me feel like I'm alive
I'm alive
Oh I'm alive
Far across the land
Yeah far across the land
They understand, they understand the lies
But nobody here want to question why
It's not what I need
But if I cut myself I'm bound to bleed
I don't want to die
But it makes me feel like alive
I'm alive
Oh I'm alive
I'm alive
Oh I'm alive
I'm alive
Oh I'm alive
I'm alive
Oh I'm alive
Don't make the same mistake
Don't make cessation, no
I'm sick of being the crowd
I'm sick of being the crowd
It's up to me
I'm not gonna crack
But the demons inside
Keep on coming back
I've got to fight the fear
I've got to know that how I feel is real
I've got to speak my mind
Cos it makes me feel like I'm alive
I'm alive
Oh I'm alive
I'm alive
Oh I'm alive
I'm alive
Oh I'm alive
I'm alive
Oh I'm alive
Let go
Oh I'm alive
I'm alive
Oh I'm alive
I'm alive
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