Black Swan

Athlete is gaining more and more original sound

It is no secret for anybody that most of the young British indie collectives are under a significant influence of such music legends as Radiohead, Coldplay or Oasis as of late. Naturally there are exceptions in every rule but in case of the London quartet Athlete the things are exactly like that – these guys write the songs filled with the emotions typical for Coldplay’s works and the guitar riffs are obviously made after a good deal of listening to Radiohead’s creations. Nevertheless, the band has already got quite a number of fans – it turns ten years of the band’s existence this year, and the guys have written a lot of good songs during the period gaining more and more original sound. This summer Athlete has ceased working with the Parlophone records and its fourth studio work Black Swan is released on Fiction Records. The album has resulted to be much more major than its 2007’s predecessor Beyond The Neighbourhood and offers over a dozen of new bright compositions in the best indie rock traditions. Black Swan will probably say nothing new in the music world but will easily become one of the best in Athlete’s discography and refine any collection of music.

Black Swan is listened at a breath

As most of Athlete’s albums the record Black Swan contains both loud stadium rock numbers and melodious ballads, both the former and the latter being filled with the strongest emotions. The shortcoming is probably the overloaded accompaniment at some moments when it was better to underline the successful lyrics. Despite all that the album is listened at a breath and you are sure to return to most of the songs after the first listening. The album opens with just this kind of track Superhuman Touch, perfect for being performed in front of a huge crowd of viewers who would sing along with the front man Joel Pott, besides the songs is refined with some interesting audio effects and the 1990s style rhythm. The ballad The Getaway surprises with the great drum and guitar work and beautiful lyrics based on metaphors. The title composition Black Swan Song is filled with despair, sadness and believing in one’s own strength at the same time so it is difficult to remain indifferent while listening to it. One of the album’s highlights is another ballad Love Come Rescue painting the most touching images and charging with the optimism of its main thought – love will save us all. The track Light The Way pleases with the whole team’s splendid matched work and can boast some very successful riffs, whereas The Unknown with its contagious guitars and vocals is also one of the best impetuous tracks on the entire record. Another hit contender is a philosophic song Rubik's Cube conquering with both soft guitar chords and a memorable tune.

Music perfect for soundtracks

No doubt, no matter how many new bands appear in Great Britain and no matter how many comparisons are made between them and other renowned collectives, each of them has something of its own to tell the world. As for Athlete this band is already close enough to find itself among the celebrities of the genre as the fourth album in a decade is not little to achieve. The professional growth and originality can be easily traced from one of the band’s creations to the following, so it is now possible to speak of it as of one of the best indie-rock representatives. Athlete makes music that is not very easy to remember but becomes time-proved. Besides, many critics quite rightfully note that it is just perfect for soundtracks, especially when it accompanies a film’s most heart-piercing moments – Athlete’s songs can really be heard in the fashionable series of today. Therefore, even if Black Swan does not impress you that much now – most of its tracks are based on quite standard synthesizers, guitars, drums and vocals – you are sure to hear some of these songs on radio or in the cinema in the nearest future.