White Lies- To Lose My Life

The first of the ‘Tips for 2009’ bunch strike with their debut album whilst the iron is red hot. White Lies releasing their album in January is a clever move as people are so gagging for new music they are sure of an instant chart hit (this will hit top 5 at the weekend) and to have people talking about them. This level of calculation is pretty much the reason White Lies don’t quite ring true. There is an air surrounding this band that suggests they have been created and packaged purely to exploit the relentless stream of ‘Next Big Thing!’ media that is generated at this time of year. These lists contain a mix of industry tipped, major label pushed dead certainties and hopeful punts, White Lies certainly fit into the former of these two categories. Maybe it’s that the trio’s former outfit (Fear of Flying) sounded so markedly different or the po-faced videos but White Lies appear to be all style no content.

Critics talk of landfill indie and whilst this isn’t Kooks or Courteeners bad it certainly seems to hold the listener with little respect. “You like Razorlight? Well you’ll love The Killers and if you like them well there’s this wonderful new band called White Lies who sound a bit like Glasvegas and a lot like Editors”. People will never break down barriers if you keep reinforcing them. The White Lies sound is, sorry to be obvious, indebted to the likes of Joy Division and Depeche Mode- stadium gloom if you like. They are clearly a fine singles act and ‘To Lose My Life’ kicks off accordingly with 2008’s ‘Death’ a macabre and stabbing effort and one of the bands finest tracks. Following this is the single being used to promote the album both confusingly called ‘To Lose My Life’ and here is where the rot starts to seep in, on track 2. A chugging electronic buzz underlies the song with Harry McVeigh’s vocals soaring and swooping in all the right places but ultimately not saying very much at all. Following that a string of epic-pop radio friendly efforts create the spine of this album decorated with the odd blockbuster ballad to add ‘depth’ and camera moments at gigs. ‘To Lose My Life’ is by definition very single friendly with numerous efforts for the follow up single to accompany the headline tour the band no doubt have booked already, ‘E.S.T’ or ‘Farewell To The Fairground’ sounding like good early bets.

Of all the bands tipped for success earlier this month White Lies were perhaps the most traditional which in turn makes them the best bet for success. If, as predicted, the stream of indie bands that has overwhelmed music over the past decade is going to die off in 2009 then White Lies will be leading the funeral procession looking suitably dismal.

5/10

To Lose My Life

White Lies- To Lose My Life