White Lies
As I Try Not To Fall Apart

THE REVIEW

The White Lies, in an attempt not to collapse, manage to stand tall. After forays into the pop world with their last album "Five," the London band releases "As I Try Not To Fall Apart," their most complete and high-quality album since their debut "To Lose My Life...". More than a decade has passed since that debut, during which Harry McVeigh's band seemed content with releasing increasingly radio-friendly hits aimed at the mass audience. "As I Try Not To Fall Apart" represents both a trend reversal and a musical synthesis of their career.
The opening track "Am I Really Going to Die," with its now customary ironic pessimism, is the song in which the band continues to exorcise, almost play, with delicate themes like the life/death relationship, within a context of discomfort towards adapting to real life and refusing extreme solutions. The inadequacy with which they coexist with the current world is confirmed in the successful ride of "I Don't Want To Go To Mars" (complete with promotional pranks on social media aimed at Elon Musk's accounts). The post-punk styled single is a track the White Lies haven't composed in quite some time and is among the most successful on the album, giving it a more classic sound direction less influenced by the electronic world that fascinates the London trio.
"Breathe" and the title track stand out for their high creative profile, giving the first part of the album a level that meets the expectations of both the English and our press, which are not disappointed even in the second part of the album, where tracks like "Roll To December" stand out, characterized by a sudden acceleration just when the work seems to converge towards calmer atmospheres, and the inspired "Blue Drift."
Between New Order and Joy Division, without ever forgetting the metropolitan influence of fellow countryman David Bowie, the White Lies flaunt a defined and determined dimension, an aspect that has been partially missing in recent albums, and in this attempt not to fall apart, could finally allow them to soar.
A small note of demerit should be assigned to the marketing aspect, regarding the excessively essential booklet accompanying the physical format on CD-ROM; an aspect not to be underestimated if they want to continue in the reconquest of the most passionate audience’s loyalty.