With just a week to go until the release of highly anticipated follow-up album, via Two Door Cinema Club, Beacon, it would be silly for me not to give you an insight into how it's sounding and what you can expect. Yesterday, reports that President Barack Obama himself had booked out a whole venue for their gig alone surfaced, but is that something to go by with this album?
It all begins on Next Year, which is a pleasant but non-offensive potential single. It's full of catchy riffs and hooks, but never manages to catch aflame ... and I wonder if this is due to the progression from the verse to chorus - it's particularly subtle and only really has a shift in drumbeat consciousness. I'm not sold from the off-go.
You can never know whether or not you love an album from the very first track so to carry on was a must. The second track, Handshake, is a little slower in tempo at first, but comes in with a '80's party vibe soon after - as though Alphabeat had a say in it. The vocal is a lot lower than what you're expecting and it seems as though the band have had a dramatic change in songwriting formula, though, during the chorus it changes to a higher pitch and gives it the differentiation I'd been looking for - a good, solid track.
Wake Up bears a bit of brunt from the beginning. It opens on a bass-line that you can't help but move to - though, this aggression is somewhat lost when the sweet melodic sounds of Alex Trimble's voice. Once again there is a nice and obvious progression into a chorus, which, allows me to be more inclined to like it. However, for some reason it's not particularly pleasing and, although I could have it background music (happily), I don't think I'll be singing along anytime soon.
Sun, which I hear is the next single, is a perfect choice. The formula for their songs is blatant but it works and this is a textbook example. The A Capella beginning, which then ventures into a particularly inventive and aggressive riff is brilliant and contains the excitement of many fans - there's never an intensely strong part to this track though, but, all in all, it's a very good one and will work well as a single.
Zooming onto the scene after the relatively tame Sun, is Someday. It's placed particularly well and is very similar to What You Know, their biggest and best ever. There's a feeling of pace at all times and sometimes I wonder if Alex can keep up, though, he always manages it and you can't not enjoy this one really.
Sleep Alone is next and I've already penned my thoughts here, it's a very good track to come back on. A strong sense of difference from their earlier work and a good way to show the fan-base what they've been up to.
The World Is Watching, which I assumes includes a woman called Valentina is a sweet track that took me by some surprise. It's sweet, but fast enough that you can still move along to it ... there's a real beauty behind it though that has been captured particularly well within the underlying riff throughout - though you can hear it clearly between 0:27 & 0:31 - another good track, quite possibly my favorite so far.
Settle, which seems to follow the emerging pattern of creeping towards slower and slower tempo's begins on a light and sophisticated little constant dashing noise. It somewhat explodes to come alive after a short stint of vocals ... though, it still doesn't manage to exit the aforementioned pattern. The burst comes quickly back down and the echoed vocal is stunning across the mesmerising and intergalactic sounds.
From the next track you'd expect either something shapely and wholesome, to do with the season, or something jivey and wild, to do with the word itself. Though, in Spring, it seems the latter has been misplaced from the start. Though, this track still manages to follow suit, slowly disengaging the album from dance. This holds no explosions of sound, no undesired surprises and can come across as a little bit boring, though, it can still be regarded as a solid album filler - I wouldn't quite put it as a single though.
Pyramid next plays part in this novel of twists and turns, though some quite predictable. It brings with is a foreboding bass-line that makes you expect big dramas. The jumping noises and chopped vocal hooks also cover a very broad base and manage to give the impression of something cynical coming up ... so when the roaring chorus comes up, you instinctively like it and only become shocked when you realize it's very quickly over. This could very well be a single, and one I'd like to add to my playlist.
The finale, as you'd expect, comes in the form of title track, Beacon. The riff is that of a bassy one and it's a proper send-off track - thanking you for your stay, but not warding you off for another visit. The vocal is almost inaudibly echoed, but allows me to think of credits rolling through my mind. there's no room for offense to be taken here and, for that reason, it's a bit of a shame to end it like this ... it just takes a bit too long for it to really begin.
All in all, my first impressions have changed as it is a better album than I though it could be. However, I really think Two Door Cinema Club will soon be one of those bands, like The Courteeners or Reverend & The Makers, who are held in high regard, but you don't care too much for. It's a shame really, What You Know was, deservedly, such a hit.
Paul.
Entertainment Magazine
