Future of the Left - How to Stop Your Brain in an Accident (*****)
“The music industry is lying to you” preaches Andy Falkous on
serrated satire Singing of the Bonesaws, chiding listeners for “[confusing] excitement
with the fear of missing out” before venturing down some dark recesses
involving Kim Kardashian, a masked bear and self-inflicted ocular mutilation.
It’s one of several tracks on Future of the Left’s fourth album to provoke nervy
laughs, with Falkous again proving a peerless lyricist: incisive, articulate and
pulling no punches as he eviscerates targets from Christmas to record labels.
On the latter note, the PledgeMusic-financed How to Stop Your Brain… is a paragon
example of crowd-funding done well: rawer, heavier and angrier than ever, it
distils the band’s abrasive appeal, and as such should leave no pledger
disappointed. Furthermore, tracks like French Lessons advance the quartet’s
less-frequently celebrated (but also rewarding) capacity for restraint, with Falkous’s
barbed sneer replaced with a precarious melodic croon (though with the opening
line “they say the price of love is a black hole”, its curbed aggression
shouldn’t be mistaken for softness). From the growling bass of Bread, Cheese,
Bow and Arrow to the unhinged howls of Why Aren’t I Going to Hell?, it’s quite
possibly their best work yet – so whatever Falkous says, don’t miss out.
Out 21st October
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