The Hours - Back When You Were Good
When it comes to hard-bitten, grown-up, tearful orchestipop, you need to get the right people for the job. And those people are what teenagers would probably call OLD people. And this is because you want your song to be filled with the kind of timeless wisdom you only get from having been around the block a few times.
Not so many times that you're unable to keep up with modern developments in popular music, and just start banging on a banjo and singing about the war, but equally not so few times that your baseball cap clashes with the suit you obviously NEED to wear for a song like this.
And especially when the words you have to sing are about a faded talent who has let everything slip a bit and become irritating, but who used to be amazing. From a young man, that's gonna seem sneery and cocky, but from someone with a bit of experience, it's like a friendly arm around the shoulder, a compassionate bit of constructive feedback, a commiseration, that kind of thing.
That's not to say the blows struck against this poor unfortunate are in any way half-hearted. "You're a vampire, you suck everybody's blood" croons Antony Hours at one point. But it's the sadness with which he sings it - the way in which he doesn't want to HAVE to go on the attack - which makes this more than just another slab of great big indie balladry.
And seeing as we're all going to get older and become less brilliant than we are now at some point, wouldn't you rather have someone give you an unflinching reality check like this than to have the legs kicked out from under you by some snotty youngster with an axe to grind? Just me? OK then...
Listen to the song at the band's MySpace page...
Released: January 22nd
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comments
Great Band! Really looking forward to seeing them in Bristol.
Good to that Radio1 is covering some real music, you'll hear a lot more about this band in 2007 they're going to make it HUGE!
This is one of the best songs I've heard in ages...in fact I'm off to buy it today!
Man! their live performance rocks! Great band, they play like they've been playing together for years. Plenty of stage energy, even if the band do understate their presence by being dressed wholly in black.
Charisma, Wit & Charm from the front man too. This band have an album due out real soon which will take the charts by storm, am hoping they get plenty of festival slots this summer, as by the end of the year they'll be playing much bigger, and more expensive, venues!