Anyone who isn’t bowled over by the riotous key change in Roll Over or knocked out by the brilliant acerbic guitar runs in Very Young really shouldn’t be listening to pop music
Anyone who isn’t bowled over by the riotous key change in Roll Over or knocked out by the brilliant acerbic guitar runs in Very Young really shouldn’t be listening to pop music
Charlotte Hatherley – The Deep Blue
http://www.munich.com/ http://www.charlottehatherley.com/
The official release of The Deep Blue earlier this year passed Incendiary by. A shame, but still, now we have a chance to make amends and sing it’s praises from the roof tops. For at the risk of sounding like a "portend of future taste", we can safely say that this is one of the best releases thus far in 2007.
There’s a tremendous range of emotions and on display throughout the album; it’s a very honest piece of work. Hatherley runs through a whole gamut of feelings, never afraid to sound in turns vulnerable, dreamy, cheeky or aggressive. In that sense it really does fit into albeit with a hell of a lot more nous. The lyrical content isn’t just a set of emotional "slogans" or solutions to hypothetical issues; on the contrary, there’s a real sense that Charlotte Hatherley is telling it just how it was for her.
But hey, feelings? Shmeelings. The real reason that The Deep Blue is such an effective document is quality of the songs and the stunning arrangements. Anyone who isn’t bowled over by the riotous key change in Roll Over or knocked out by the brilliant acerbic guitar runs in Very Young really shouldn’t be listening to pop music. Elsewhere the dreamy textures of Dawn Treader and Be Thankful are given beautiful counterpoints by a fabulously uplifting trumpet refrain and a Cocteausy vocal arpeggio respectively. Wrapping things up, Siberia is a tremendous and righteous set closer; its breezy guitar pop structure giving way (after a false ending) to a floating ethereal affair.
Killer pop. Highly recommended.
Words: Richard Foster.