³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

(. It was shot inside a golf ball in Tinyworld.)

Let's use this song by Snow Patrol as a good example. It wants us to be lifted up by its winning velocity, its sense of scale and its throbbing peaks. It wants us to feel like we're standing on a cliff-edge, arms out, tears caught in the wind, feeling a very intense feeling in a very beautiful place.

And, as with a lot of magic tricks, the methods it uses to create the illusion are nothing much, once you've spotted what they are.

Snow Patrol are a band whose songs are based on tiny little fragments of melody, which cycle around until it's time to move on to the next one. I've pointed this out before, but if they can repeat themselves, so can I.

And BOY can they repeat themselves. There are basically only two melody lines to this entire song, a verse one and a chorus one. And it's not like Gary Lightbody's rivetting delivery is selling it either. He sounds snoozy and distant, while the rest of the band play with felted fingers. There's no spark, no OOMPH, and worst of all, no fun.

And yes, it's entirely fair enough to point out this is needless nitpicking, and gets in the way of the magic for the people who want to believe.

There again, if you put sellotape on a balloon, and stick a pin in it, the balloon won't pop. That's not magic either, no matter how many times you shout "shazam!".

Download: Out now
CD Released: November 2nd

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(Fraser McAlpine)