Two years ago, at Glastonbury 2009, I had heard a lot about the band. They had just released this album, To Lose My Life, and there was a lot of publicity and, dare I say it again, hype, levelled in their direction. But, as anyone who has been to the festival will vouch for, planning to go to see a band and actually making it are two different things. There is so much going on, that sometimes you get dragged away by something else, or are just having such a good time that you forget what you were meant to be doing. I'm gutted to say that I think mine was a combination of the two.
However, I finally made up for it earlier this year when my other half and I took a trip over to Toulouse to see the band on their tour for their second album, Ritual. Now I know that album is newer than the one I'm looking at here, but in my opinion, it isn't as good as this one, and, as I stated in the Rules right at the beginning of this whole thing (click here to have a look), I'm choosing the album that I think they will play most from. At the gig in Toulouse, this album just shaded it in their setlist.
That gig, by the way, was one of the best that I've ever been to. Although Le Bikini wasn't packed to the rafters in the way it was for the Beady Eye gig later that week (which is wrong on a number of levels), the atmosphere was great, we were almost at the front throughout, and the band sounded magnificent. Often accused as being dark and miserable doom mongers, they put on a real show, packed full of songs that had the crowd jumping around, loving each moment. And yes, both I include both myself and the missus there.
So, to the album.
It's not often that track one on an album is arguably its best. I suppose it opens up the opportunity to only listen to that song, before turning it off. Or maybe that doesn't apply at all anymore in the digital age. Anyway, I'm talking crap, no?
Track one on here though is Death. Ok, so it might have a name to add weight to the doom monger theories, but it's not the depressing song that its name suggests. It showcases all that's good about the band. Rather than go on and on about it, I'll just pop up a video. I can't really do it justice by writing about it, but I should say that the song on the album is a little quicker to the version the band play here. See the band playing Death on Later with Jools Holland by clicking here.
Actually, this album is another one of those in which I could go into detail about every song, but I've resisted doing that on all of the other blogs, so I'll do the same here, and just pick out my highlights.
Death is actually my favourite track on here, but Unfinished Business pushes it close. The missus, myself and a friend have been trying to fathom out the storyline of this song for a while. Death has definitely come to collect the character in it, but we can't figure out if his girlfriend killed him or not. If any fans get to read this, and you know the real story behind it, please leave me a comment clearing it up!
Elsewhere? A Place to Hide boasts a huge chorus, Fairwell to the Fairground is the song that most people will recognise the band from, and is, to be fair, first class, and the title track, To Lose My Life is also a belter.
The last song on the album, The Price of Love, is another that tells a story, something that White Lies are very good at. It is about a man trying to raise £1m in a week to save the life of his wife, who has been kidnapped. Surprisingly, it was the gig that the crowd really went mad to at the gig, something that I wasn't expecting, but it was really, really good live.
And that's me about done for White Lies. I'm a bit disappointed that I haven't really got across how much I love this album here, but I'm nursing a monster hangover, and am a day behind on here, so have another to do later. All I will say is you should DEFNITELY check this album out. It is excellent, it really is.
One last word, I found this picture, thought it looked really cool.
Another quick word from me, don't forget that if you liked this, or if you at least bothered to read until the end, you can get all of the other blogs over on the right hand side of the page. All of this month's, and April are over there. Whether you fancy reading about someone you already like, or are curious about a band that are new to you, give them a go, and please, if you do like this, pass it on through the various social media sites out there.
And onwards we go....
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