White Lies Revealing New Album Clips

White Lies are uploading 90-second clips of their new album over the next week, before the full release on August 12th. Every day, a new song will get the treatment. Friday saw track 1's sample - Big TV - and yesterday saw track 2 - There Goes Our Love Again. Obviously, the latter has already been released as a single, so they just linked to the full track. Today should see First Time Caller, assuming that they're doing it in tracklist order and they're not counting the "Space" interludes - as they are under 90 seconds in length! Either way, check here in the evenings over the next week to hear the clips.

White Lies To Stream New Album?

White Lies have posted a picture on their Facebook saying "Big TV - new stream" which implies they're going to stream their new album in full... but it might not be! Either way, pop on to their Soundcloud at 3pm BST on Monday 29th July, and find out! The album Big TV is out 12th August; and you can also hear a live recording of album track First Time Caller right here.

EDIT: It's just one track that's being streamed; Change (track 7 on the album) - click here.

White Lies - Two New Samples

I uploaded two samples of upcoming White Lies tracks (Big TV and Goldmine) to this blog's YouTube channel, then completely forgot to make a post about them! Here they are in all their glory:

Big TV
Goldmine

The album is out August 12th, and is bookended by these two tracks; Big TV opens the album, and Goldmine closes it. The source of these samples is here.

New White Lies Songs

Here are a collection of new White Lies songs from their upcoming third album, Big TV, due out August 12th.

BIG TV


THERE GOES OUR LOVE AGAIN


FIRST TIME CALLER


MOTHER TONGUE


GETTING EVEN


BE YOUR MAN

White Lies To Air New Single

White Lies will be airing their new single, There Goes Our Love Again, tonight at 7.30pm (GMT) on Radio 1. The song is the second taken from their new album, Big TV, following the free download of Getting Even two weeks ago. The album is due out August 12th, with the new single being released in full on August 5th.

White Lies - Big TV

Artwork

Tracklist
01. Big TV
02. There Goes Our Love Again
03. Space I
04. First Time Caller
05. Mother Tongue
06. Getting Even
07. Change
08. Be Your Man
09. Space II
10. Tricky To Love
11. Heaven Wait
12. Goldmine

The album will be released 12th August, and will be preceded by a single, There Goes Our Love Again, on the 5th August (radio play yet to be announced). There is also a free download of Getting Even, which you can access here.

First Time Caller, There Goes Our Love Again, Big TV, Mother Tongue and Be Your Man have all recently been played live, although there is no footage of Big TV on YouTube.

White Lies To Announce New Album

White Lies are set to announce their third album early next week (June 4th) - following 2011's Ritual. This album is set to have more of an 80s electropop feel to it. The first single is called Getting Even, and is a five-minute epic sing-along! Other songs set for inclusion are First Time Caller, Mother Tongue, Be Your Man, There Goes Our Love Again and Big TV (all of these have all been played live with the exception of Big TV).

Where Is Everyone?

So I have been posting a lot less recently... mainly because none of the bands I follow are doing anything! After the release of The Twang's 10:20 today, I have no albums on the horizon to anticipate until January, when Biffy Clyro will grace our speakers with a double album! Whilst this time of year is usually barren in terms of releases, there is usually some form of news; some promise that music is coming soon, but in the latter end of 2012... nothing. So, while I'm scouring the Internet for new bands to enjoy in the meantime, I decided to have a catch-up on what all the other bands are doing, and of course provide the information here. So, where is everyone?

The Courteeners - Their third album has apparently been recorded, and are currently in the process of sorting out a promotional campaign to go with it. A few songs have been debuted live, but hopefully more will appear at the end of the year as the band are playing a few gigs then.
TRACK TITLES: Welcome To The Rave, Lose Control, Push Yourself, Save Rosemary In Time, Why Are You Still With Him?, Something You Can't Have
ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE: February

Delphic - The band have started playing gigs and started debuting some new songs to follow their Olympics single Good Life. Their second album has been recorded, but no word on where the release stands.
TRACK TITLES: Good Life, Atlas, Memeo, Baiya, Changes
ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE: April

Editors - After a re-jigging of their line-up for album number four, the band are now at work on said album. A few tracks have been played live to whet our appetites, and some have even gone through noticeable changes as the line-up changed. Hopefully some more details will arise around December as the band are playing XFM Winter Wonderland then.
TRACK TITLES: Sugar, Nothing, Two Hearted Spider, The Sting, Magazine, Upright, What Is This Thing Called Love?, Honesty, The Weight Of Your Love, Formaldehyde
ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE: April

Embrace - The band's sixth album has been in the pipeline for several years now, and promise something will appear soon, but there isn't much to go on, apart from one track title!
TRACK TITLES: Self Attack Mechanism
ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE: June

Glasvegas - After NME mistakenly reported a title for the band's third album, it came out that the album was practically done, but remained untitled. A song called If? was also put online in demo form.
TRACK TITLES: If?, I'd Rather Be Dead Than Be With You, Later... When The TV Turns To Static, All I Want Is My Baby
ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE: March

Hadouken! - Well, this one is taking forever. After two singles in 2010, which may not feature on the album, the band followed this up by another one in April, one in August, had another song feature on FIFA 13, did a collaboration with Drumsound & Bassline Smith, and also debuted three further songs at their live shows in April! That's practically an album in itself! Just release it already - the songs are fantastic!
TRACK TITLES: Vessel, Parasite, Mecha Love, Oxygen, Comedown, Bliss Out, Daylight, Levitate, Bad Signal, As One
ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE: April

Klaxons - Not too much info available on this one, but there is a third album, and the band have debuted two songs live.
TRACK TITLES: Rhythm Of Life, Invisible Forces
ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE: May

One Night Only - The band are slowly building up tracks for their third album, and are reportedly about halfway through the process. One song has been released (Long Time Coming) and another (Games) should surface soon... hopefully!
TRACK TITLES: Long Time Coming, Games, Night On Earth
ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE: August

The Pigeon Detectives - Firing out a fourth album not that long after their third, the band should be back sometime not far into the new year. However, nothing is really known about it! Maybe some of their gigs in November will reveal some more...
TRACK TITLES: I Don't Mind
ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE: March

White Lies - Nothing is known about this one, other than a third album is in the works, after two phenomenal ones. Let's hope it lives up to its predecessors!
TRACK TITLES: ?
ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE: September

Best Of 2011: #1

#1 - White Lies - Ritual

Original review here.

Firstly, Merry Christmas! Now to business... Who'd have thought that the first album I bought this year would end up being the favourite. Doing the opposite to this year's runner-up Coldplay, White Lies missed out on being #1 for me in 2009 (I know they were gutted, this is such a prestigious award...or not) but now they've claimed it. Ten practically perfect songs that have aged well and have never made me think there's something wrong with them. I loved it on first listen, and I love it even more now. The greatest of the songs are Is Love, which starts quiet and then BAM! - it gets absolutely massive, and the chorus is huge (well, all 10 songs have massive choruses), Strangers, the greatest one on here, with its thunderous electronic rock vibe, Bigger Than Us, the first single, whose chorus should have crowds mesmerised (especially when it appears five times!), and Holy Ghost, maybe the heaviest thing here, with a more industrial sound than we're used to, but with yet another storming chorus. They really know how to build up to a chorus and then they really deliver. This album is the only one this year I would happily give 5 stars to. It's almost a year old, and shows no signs of getting boring, even if iTunes tells me I've listened to it over 100 times (Bigger Than Us is sitting at 266 plays at the moment)... But there you go!

Album Review: White Lies - Ritual

Album: Ritual
Artist: White Lies
Singles: Bigger Than Us

White Lies have to be one of my favourite bands of all time. On this album, and their first, they make stadium-sized rock anthems, which are exactly what I love to hear, so when they opted for a slightly more electronic direction and claimed that it was bigger than the first record, you can imagine my excitement. And it does not disappoint. The album is unashamedly filled with massive (and that's an understatement) rock songs that are instantly likeable. It is incredibly rare for me to listen to an album for the first time and like every single one first time round - usually a few listens later I find I enjoy some songs when I didn't before, but here everything is instantly stunning - and it grows even more on you on repeated listens! The real darkness of the first album may be done away with a bit here, at least in the music, but it's still present in the slightly obscure, yet brilliant lyrics. So, track by track:

Is Love
Starting off proceedings with a simple electronic beat, before the haunting, deep vocals of lead singer Harry McVeigh enter the fray as synths float casually around the verse, as the drumbeat powers up for the first round of the chorus of "She says the only thing I've ever found, that's greater than it always sounds, is love". You know it's heading for somewhere massive, but nothing in the world could prepare you for the onslaught of what comes next - in short, a wonderfully catchy bass groove and incredibly powerful drums. It's pretty much danceable, in fact. At the end of the five minutes this song occupies on the album, you're left stunned by the sheer massiveness of it all, and can't quite believe that the song's already over. This song is probably my favourite on the album, even though when listening to the songs live, this one wasn't that interesting to me.

Strangers
A quieter synth starts off this song, before the main riff comes to life, and then the drums smash their way in, and after a few seconds, the sheer epicness of this album shows itself off. The first chorus of "I've got a sense of urgency, I gotta make this happen, no stone unturned" sounds pretty massive itself, but then an even bigger chorus turns up a minute later - this is an adrenaline-filled belter of a song. It ends a bit suddenly, but once again, looking the track times and seeing this one is about five and a half minutes long is just unbelievable.

Bigger Than Us
Leaving us no room to breathe (in a good way), comes the hurtling first single. As the title suggests, it is absolutely huge (I think I'm spotting a pattern here!), starting off with an electronic pulse and launching into the vocals, which have improved on this record despite being pretty damn amazing on To Lose My Life... anyway. Weirdly, this is probably one of my least favourite tracks on here, as the others sort of blow it out the water. And as it throws itself into the monstrous chorus, we hear McVeigh declare "this is bigger than us". Definitely got that bit right then.

Peace And Quiet
Phew. Three enormous tracks down and finally we're treating to a slightly calmer aspect of the album. Or so White Lies would have you believe. A calm, flowing synth line floats over a quieter drumbeat than the first three tracks have shown, sounding quite ethereal and peaceful, but after a minute of build-up, it all suddenly disappears as the vocals return: "After the red ants, the blackout comes, peace and quiet..." The lyrics on this album are quite interesting. Sometimes you wonder what the hell they're talking about, but ultimately they come off very well - quite poetic, a quality rarely seen in bands these days. The chorus isn't the highlight of this song, but instead the massive instrumental ending takes centre stage. It sounds like it's going to end when it all fades out and there's only a guitar, but before long, everything comes back and leads the song to its conclusion. A calmer moment on the album, but still a big song.

Streetlights
Perhaps the darkest song on this album, with almost ridiculously deep vocals - so deep, in fact, that you feel McVeigh is having a bit of trouble keeping it in tune - and a very bass-heavy verse, this is probably the closest you'll get to To Lose My Life... despite having a very synth-led melody as opposed to the slightly more guitar-oriented stuff from their debut. As the chorus settles in, the sheer emotion conveyed in the vocals mixed in with the desperation described by the lyrics makes for an interesting contrast with the euphoria of the music being played to accompany it. I think towards the end, the song does overstay its welcome a little bit, which one of Ritual's sole problems - this one is my least favourite, but it is still an excellent song.

Holy Ghost
The word industrial could never have been used more appropriately than here. Definitely the heaviest thing on offer here, we're treated to an absolutely epic guitar line running over the distorted throb of the bassline, and the chorus just adds to that as synths run in the background. Again, we have a song that slightly overstays its welcome, and maybe would have benefitted from a tiny cut-down at the end (doesn't matter either way though, I still love it) as an assortment of harmonies and a sort of robotic synth brings the song to a crashing end. Very, very impressive stuff - my second favourite on the album.

Turn The Bells
Another darker song, led on by pretty much nothing but a powerful beat to back the vocals, but as the song goes on, synths come to life and join in. This song is slightly more reliant on the lyrics than others on this album, but it turns out lyricist Charles Cave is at his peak here, as he serves up some fantastic imagery - "The marketplace has nothing to sell, left alone its awnings shiver" is the opening line (not something you're going to hear opening a song every day!), and from there, it just gets better, and when mixed in with the (as always) impressive voice of Harry McVeigh, the song turns to astronomical. The chorus changes the song from a dark, slightly more minimal song into another epic, euphoric piece of music. No matter what you think about White Lies, you cannot deny they know their way round a chorus. And that has never been more apparent than on:

The Power And The Glory
The glacial synth that opens it gets instantly confined to the background as we hear out the first verse before sliding into the chorus (which gets repeated several times), and just as you think it's not going to really go much further, it turns into something slightly different - which gets quite catchy. It sounds a little quiet until about 3 minutes in when it starts to get going. The lines "I gave you back your power, I gave you back your glory" are undoubtedly going to induce a mass sing-along when it comes to play it live. This song is probably the furthest thing away from To Lose My Life... on here, as the synths own it. There's almost no hint of a guitar. Although it's still good, it sounds slightly weak until the end. I do think the live version was a bit stronger, and felt a very little smidgen of disappointment when I heard the studio version first, but it's growing rapidly on me.

Bad Love
Sort of going the opposite way to The Power And The Glory, this time we've got a lot more guitars - take a listen to the first guitar chord of the chorus. In that single second, they encapture the meaning of epic. It ultimately doesn't outshine the rest of the song, but it's still one of the many jaw-dropping moments present on this album. Along with the previous track, it's probably going to turn into one of the biggest sing-along-fests of their live shows, with the line "If I'm guilty of anything, it's loving you too much, honey, sometimes love means getting a little rough!" before concluding, "This is not bad love..." Maybe one of the album's weaker moments, but still amazing.

Come Down
Last track already? Where did the last 45 minutes go? - this was my first thought on realising it was almost over. And instead of opting for a huge, orchestral, throw-everything-you-can-at-the-song finale, the band opt for a slightly more quiet exit. That's not to say it's not powerful, as it definitely is, with dramatic chords played on the piano and a very basic drumbeat make their way to the forefront, and really serve once again to highlight the brilliance of McVeigh's vocals. As the second chorus ends, the song changes as a choir of voices sing in unison, in a slight change of pace from the rest of the song. And we are treated to a slightly calmer version of the chorus; the final words ring out ("getting out of here...") and the synth closes the song, and the album, down. At first it may seem like an anti-climactic ending, but it actually ends up being magnificent.

So, overall, good start for 2011. I'm a massive fan of bombastic, epic albums that are just so unashamedly built for stadiums and are proud of it. White Lies deliver 10 more excellent songs as they did on their first, and have improved on it several times over. Whilst there is a tiny, yet insignificant, dip in the album around the middle, with Streetlights and Holy Ghost going on for a tad too long, it does not take anything away from the enjoyment of the album. If you're not into over-the-top (I mean that in a good way), stadium-bound anthems that are on offer here, then you're probably not going to like this. But if you do like that kind of music, then this the album for you.

And so, looking at the fact that I love every single song, and personally can't really fault the album, while also recognising that I gave their debut full marks and I think this is better, I have to give White Lies their second 10/10 from me (Mind you, I am a really nice reviewer). Amazing album.



Previous albums: To Lose My Life... (10/10)

A Couple Of Live White Lies Tracks

Live versions of White Lies' new songs Strangers and The Power And The Glory are available here, ripped off the radio.

Preview All Songs Off Ritual

The album previews went up on iTunes, and are available for you to listen here.



At the moment, Strangers and Bad Love are at the top of my favourites list, but the rest still sound spot on!

Lyrics discerned from the preview:

IS LOVE
...as a girl
She says the only thing I've ever found
That's greater than it always sounds
Is love
She says the only thing I've ever found...

STRANGERS
...treats all strangers
With love and affection
And I feel cold and empty
I've got a sense of urgency
I've got to make this happen
No stone unturned
I've got a sense of urgency...

BIGGER THAN US
...I don't want your love
I just gotta get home
And I feel like I'm breaking up
And I wanted to stay
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I don't want you to pray
This is bigger than us...

PEACE AND QUIET
After the red ants, the blackout
Come peace and quiet
Those little footprints
Fleshed out calm in...

STREETLIGHTS
...right time to get away
Where I'm going, I couldn't care
I'm bored and I'm afraid
I'm falling like rain for you
So tired, I'm picking skin
Just cos it's something to do...

HOLY GHOST
...whoever taught you to scream like that?
Maybe someday I can move like you
I'm not looking for a holy ghost
Maybe someday I can scream like you...

TURN THE BELLS
...move the stone as the cloud's just a ripple
A shock from the impact
Shadow...

THE POWER AND THE GLORY
...tiptoeing through the rubble
And running through the flames
As empty handed leaving
As I was when I came
Tiptoeing through the rubble
And running through the flames
As empty handed leaving
As I was when I came
Tiptoeing through the rubble
And running through the flames
As empty handed leaving
As I was when I came
Tiptoeing through the rubble
And running through the...

BAD LOVE
...round this town
Nobody dares to lift a finger
They can see my heart is down and injured
If I'm guilty of anything
It's loving you too much
Honey, sometimes love,
Means getting a little rough...

COME DOWN
...like falling in the sea
When it's too hot in the sun
Made things so much worse today
I know you said you'll miss me...

Preview Five Songs Off Ritual

Preview Strangers, Peace And Quiet, Holy Ghost, Turn The Bells and Bigger Than Us (although we've already heard it) here. The songs sound AMAZING.

Single Review: White Lies - Bigger Than Us

Single: Bigger Than Us
Artist: White Lies
From the album Ritual

The electronic pulse that kicks off White Lies' comeback single instantly signals the arrival of something epic, you know it instantly. Despite being underwhelmed the first time I heard it live, it grew on me, and hearing this studio version just adds to it. The chorus is absolutely massive, as singer Harry McVeigh's powerful voice declares "this is bigger than us!"

One of the first reviews I did for this blog was for White Lies' single To Lose My Life, and I gave it 10/10. But I think I was very nice in that aspect - if I reviewed it now I'd give it 8 or 9, and so despite thinking this new song is better than To Lose My Life, I am only going to give it a 9.

SCORE

Bigger Than Us - First Play Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Tuesday 16th November, White Lies' new single Bigger Than Us will get its first play on Radio 1 at 19.30.

A Change To Ritual's Tracklist

I think that White Lies' second album has had its tracklist changed, as websites offering it up for pre-ordering are saying Streetlights has been moved to track 5. The new tracklist is:

01. Is Love
02. Strangers
03. Bigger Than Us
04. Peace And Quiet
05. Streetlights
06. Holy Ghost
07. Turn The Bells
08. The Power And The Glory
09. Bad Love
10. Come Down

Preview Of Bigger Than Us

Here is a preview of White Lies' new single Bigger Than Us. It sounds amazing!

White Lies - Ritual

Artwork


Tracklist
01. Is Love?
02. Strangers
03. Bigger Than Us
04. Peace And Quiet
05. Streetlights
06. Holy Ghost
07. Turn The Bells
08. The Power And The Glory
09. Bad Love
10. Come Down

The first single is Bigger Than Us, which will be formally released on the 3rd January.

The album will follow on the 17th January.

The first six tracks, The Power And The Glory and Bad Love have all been played live.

Previews of five of the songs are available here. The iTunes previews are available here.

White Lies - New Album Details

Taken from here.

So the album is called.... Ritual!!!

Here's the tracklist:
01. Is Love?
02. Strangers
03. Street Lights
04. Bigger Than Us
05. Peace And Quiet
06. Holy Ghost
07. Turn The Bells
08. The Power And The Glory
09. Bad Love
10. Come Down

The album is set for a 17th January release date, and the first single is Bigger Than Us, due out 3rd January (although that date is based on speculation)

101 days to go... (at the time of posting)...

Lots Of Lovely New Albums...

Some various news for some upcoming albums:

White Lies (second album due out 17th January): The album is now set to have 10 tracks, not 11 as previously reported. There are now nine song titles; five of which we've heard from live versions (Bigger Than Us, Holy Ghost, Strangers, Street Lights and Is Love) and four unheard as of yet (Peace And Quiet, Turn The Bells, The Power And The Glory and Come Down). Peace And Quiet has been described as a massive departure from the normal White Lies sound, and The Power And The Glory as an 80s-influenced electro epic song.

Snow Patrol (sixth album expected mid-2011): The new album is set to have a massive electronic influence, according to various sources.

Elbow (fifth album expected mid-2011): Their new record has been described as bigger in some aspects and yet subtler in others. Frontman Guy Garvey believes it will not have the same commercial impact as their previous album, The Seldom Seen Kid.

Hadouken! (potential third album due out next year): A new song has been confirmed to get its first airing sometime in October/November. Rumours about a third album have not yet been confirmed or denied, but on the band's MySpace page, you can see "The next chapter coming soon," so it may be true after all!

Ladytron (fifth album expected sometime next year): Aside from a compilation featuring two new songs to be released late 2010, Ladytron have been working on their fifth album; however not much is known about it.

Hard-Fi (third album expected early 2011): Not much known about this, apart from five song titles: Sweat, Killer Sounds, Bring It On, Give It Up and Feels Good. Their Rockin' The City podcasts have samples of Sweat (here) and Feels Good (here). Also, here's a sample of Bring It On.

Pet Shop Boys: No new album, but a compilation "Ultimate" is set to be released November 2010. It will include a new song, "Together".

The View (third album expected early 2011): Not much news about this other than it has been recorded. Two songs are known: Underneath The Lights and Tragic Magic.

And last but certainly not least:
The Pigeon Detectives (third album expected early 2011): The new album has been recorded, but absolutely no other information as far as I can see.