Friday, January 02, 2009

#101 Keane, "The Lovers Are Losing"



We cling to love like a skidding car
Clings to a corner
I try to hold on to what we are
The more I squeeze, the quicker we're over

Oh, how I want to be able to place this song higher--its swoony synth-infected sound was one I fell for on first listen, despite having been left cold (as I still am) by the track that heralded Keane's reinvention, "Spiralling." I just don't think I can, though: I'm always just a little bit hesitant to press play, a fact I mainly attribute to the synths that open the song being just a bit too strident for me. Still, "The Lovers Are Losing" found Keane keeping their strong sense of melody and giving it that bit of exciting semi-epic synth makeover while still keeping its beauty--enhancing it, in fact. In the end, I wouldn't love all of the associated album, Perfect Symmetry, as much as I wanted to ("Lovers Are Losing" is easily my favorite track from it), but it did contain a few other great songs, including the title track and"Again And Again." Nowhere else did the group make making good music sound so effortless (they often strike upon bits of musical brilliance but not consistently throughout a song) or make such a radio-friendly catchy song, but where they go next will be exciting to see.

Find it on: Perfect Symmetry

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