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White Lies: Big TV (2013) Review
Indie | Tuesday 13th August 2013 | Billy
From the colossal chart success of their previous albums, To Lose My Life and Ritual, White Lies have cemented their place at the top of the synth obsessed, post 80's pop rock genre, and with their new album Big TV, Harry McVeigh and co have again conjured up an outer-space like hit record that is well worth a listen.
Beneath the icy synths and hollowing drums, Big TV has a rather unique concept to it of the progress of a young woman from a lowly district of Europe who parts from her boyfriend in pursuit of the big city and a father she is yet to meet. She later finds out that her estranged father is a radio phone in host, and track ‘First Time Caller’ alludes to their reunion as Harry pipes out the words ‘She said I was a first time caller/ but a long time listener/ I’ve been waiting a while to talk to you.’ An alternate theme is the ever present imbalance of a relationship, where one’s love outweighs the others.
The record opens with title track ‘Big TV’ which illustrates the modern world’s obsession with materialism which is clearly shown in the chorus, ‘ And you can get me work/ But I can’t work for free/ I’ve got a room downtown with a bed and a big TV.’ It’s an aptly made point entwined with White Lies’ typical keyboard riffs and kicking drums; this one is sure to raise the roofs of the UK’s top arenas in a similar fashion to tracks like ‘Strangers’ (Ritual – 2011).
The second track ‘There Goes Our Love Again’ communicates the sort of enraged quarrel between two lovers where one storms out only to return with their tail between there legs as the chorus ‘I didn’t go far and I came home’ relays. This is the story of a couple who are truly on the edge of their unity.
Next track ‘Mother Tongue’ has a strong 80’s feel to it with the chorus taking a huge influence from songs such as Tears for Fears – ‘Mad World’ with an ever present powerful drum sequence and an array of synth and power chords throughout.
Although this album has some truly great tracks to boast, the problem seems to be that much like the first two albums there is little to admire about the rest of the songs that seem to just make up the numbers with two interludes, ‘Space I’ and ‘Space II’ that seem to lack any sort of input to the album. However, overall this is still a great album and is arguably the bands most complete work to date, but White Lies still have a little work that needs to be done to secure themselves among the modern greats.
Verdict: 7/10
Tracklisting:
- Big TV
- There Goes Our Love Again
- Space I
- First Time Caller
- Mother Tongue
- Getting Even
- Change
- Be Your Man
- Space II
- Tricky To Love
- Heaven Wait
- Goldmine
Billy Thomas
