Well, it doesn't come up on Hype Machine, so I figure I'm the first :)Straight outta Kippax (it's like a kipper, but with an 'x' at the end - *sigh of satisfaction*), it's the quotationmarksrequiredwhenyougoogleus-tastic quartet The Music, and their new single, 'Strength in Numbers', the title track from the forthcoming new album. Aaaaand, a remix of the album track 'Fire' from the probably-soon-to-be-forgotten Does It Offend You, Yeah?
'Strength in Numbers' is surprisingly strong (no pun intended - no really, I actually only noticed the strength/strong link like 5 minutes after I wrote it, this bracket is a later addendum), given that the four-year wait since 2004's Welcome to the North (due apparently to singer Robert Harvey's problems with alcoholism and depression) had seen the whole guitar-music-meets-dance-music thang being taken in a new direction to more success by the likes of Klaxons. Basically it's Stone Roses meets Kasabian, but not quite as lad-rock (*shudder*) as that might make you think. The vaguely Cloverfield-ish video is on their site, and it has military helicopters, night vision, and a main character who does that music video thing of doing something exciting (like televising a revolution), and then ending up doing something even more exciting - being at a gig by the band whose music video it is - !!!
As far as comeback singles go, I think it has the potential to be genuinely effective. The chorus might sound weak the first time you hear it, but when the bass kicks in at the tw0-minute mark, it suddenly seems a lot bigger. It's got me genuinely excited about going to see them in Wolverhampton in June. And the remix is worth a listen to, even if it's kinda strange hearing a remix without hearing the original. Here they are:
mp3: [mp3 removed]
mp3: [mp3 removed]
(Album versions of both these tracks on Strength In Numbers, out June 16)
P.S. If you need another reason to download these tracks, it is this: The lead guitarist in The Music is named Adam Nutter. And what kind of a world is it where having a lead guitarist who goes by the name of Adam Nutter is anything other than A Good Thing? Exactly.
