Turin Brakes - Dark on Fire
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Artist: Turin BrakesEdition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2007-09-24
Music Label: EMI Int'l
Soundtracks:
- Last Chance
- Ghost
- Something in My Eye
- Stalker
- Other Side
- Dark on Fire
- Real Life
- For the Fire
- Timewaster
- Bye Pod
- Here Comes the Moon
- New Star
Free Music Notes for Dark on Fire
Free Music Review: You crash a plane into my life
Hit: 4 Stars
Somehow, the recognition that is lavished on many Britpop bands seems to slip right on by Turin Brakes.
That's a shame, because their fourth album "The Dark on Fire" is a return to form, after the peppier sound of "Jackinabox." The British band maintains the folky-rocky acoustic core and bittersweetly spacey flavour of their past work, but they also experiment with a fuller, more expansive sound. Not too shabby.
It opens with a swell of shoegazy synth, which is joined by a gentle acoustic guitar. "This is the last chance/The last chance to heed the call... Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning/I'm drowning inside the ground," Olly Knights sings dramatically as the piano tumbles over the ringing riffs.
As the song fades out with an ominous piano note and the admonition, "Don't ask too many questions," Turin Brakes switches over into the retro psychrocker "Ghosts." Most of the songs that follow hang somewhere in between -- gentle folkrock humming with shimmering keyboard, dusty bittersweet acoustic ballads laced with strings, a deliciously catchy chunk of sprightly powerpop, and a few angular rockers traced with organ.
And it finishes on a rather upbeat, pretty note, with a trio of folk and pop melodies -- the sunny acoustic-led "Bye Pod," the twinkly delicate "Here Comes The Moon," and the unadorned "New Star." That last one is pure folk, with no moments of rock or spaciness.
"Dark on Fire" doesn't really explore any new territory for Turin Brakes, in favor of polishing what they've done before -- it's a combination of all three of their past albums, combining spacey folk with driving indie-rock. And with that in mind, Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian do a pretty excellent job combining all three styles into one album.
But they do have more of a lush, full-blown sound in this album, as if there were more band members than just, well, two. Lots of ringing, angular electric guitars driving the melodies, and sometimes softer acoustic ones just meandering along. And there's lots of spacey, shimmering shoegazer-style synth, often wobbling behind the harder instrumentation. And a gentle cascade of piano ripples through some of these songs like a brook.
Knights has a somewhat constricted voice, but he makes it work in the more countryish, wistful songs ("He's a tragic little fellow/cause he's always left behind"). There's a feeling of unease that runs through the album, ranging from a deranged stalker's ode ("Every single thing you say/I'll record, I'll replay") to fleeing a place you don't like ("The last chance to leave this place/Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning").
The one exception? It ends on a rather chipper note, with Knights warbling rather off-key over an acoustic guitar, "Just wait for the blue sky/Wait for the sunshine/To clear your mind... Even that old moon/It couldn't eclipse this brand new sun!"
"Dark on Fire" is a solid combination of all Turin Brakes has done before, blending spacey folk with Britpop. Definitely one to clear your mind with.
Dark on Fire Poster
Acoustic music has become a bit of a byword for fey folkies singing the sort of slight pastoral tales that sound like they might blow away in a stiff wind, but on Dark on Fire, Turin Brakes--the South London duo of Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian--confirm once again that they do this unplugged thing with rather more gumption. Turin Brakes' trade is rugged duets with the gruff vocal muscle of a Paul Weller or Kelly Jones and a heavy lyrical slant towards nature, celestial bodies and manly matters of the heart (it takes a blokeish sort of band to call the most emotional song on their album "Something in My Eye"). While it's true that twin acoustic guitars remain at the heart of Turin Brakes' sound, much here is fleshed out with added instrumentation: "Last Chance" gradually builds on a tide of synthesiser and tumbling piano, while "Stalker", with its driving bass and shimmering guitar licks, has something of the gothic 80s sound to it. It's an inflated sound, however, that is careful not to overwhelm Dark on Fire's more intimate modes of communication; take the moment on "Other Side" where the instruments suddenly drop away and emotions are suddenly laid bare: "I wanna be an old man," they sing, "With a suntan and a watering can". --Louis Pattison2007 album from the British Folk/Pop duo. Dark On Fire, their fourth album, has been called a 'return to form'. Many would claim this to be a natural successor to their debut album, The Optimist, still a staple in many record collections. Produced by Ethan Johns of Kings of Leon/Ray Lamontagne/Ryan Adams fame. EMI. 2007.
2007 Release of the Fourth Studio Album by the British Band, who Spent 2006 Writing and Recording Demo Songs for the Project. The Album was Recorded in Two Studios in London Early 2007 and Succeeds "Jackinabox". The First Single Released is the Song "Stalker".
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