Well, here it is at long last. After the band posted the track on their MySpace page and toured the UK and Europe in support of this single back in May, the release was postponed – quite considerably.
Things have clearly changed a lot for The Cinematics since the release of their debut album in 2007. They’re no longer on TVT for a start, and while that’s because the label folded rather than ejected the band, that the press release points out that there are ‘no record label influenced singles that are juxtaposed with the body of the work’ on the forthcoming album, one can’t help but wonder what the relationship was like. After all, the single version of ‘Break’ suggested they were the next Editors, but the version that followed on the album was rather different in terms of production, as was the rest of ‘A Strange Education.’
In working on the follow up, from which this release is both the lead single and title track, the band have a new line-up and have eschewed all current trends in favour of an altogether different range of references. Other significant changes have also occurred. The introversion of their former work has been replaced by a more outward-looking focus. The result is the discovery of a world outside, and a world that’s full of paranoia, fear, financial uncertainty, war...
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The magnitude of the subject matters that have become the band’s focus are reflected in a bigger – by which I mean stadium-sized – sound. ‘Love and Terror’ opens with a boogie bassline and a ricocheting guitar before launching into a chorus that’s pure U2 (before Bono completely disappeared up his own backside) or Simple Minds.
It’s bombastic, it’s immense, but thankfully it’s not pompous in the way that the aforementioned bands so famously are. Similarly, it’s earnest and sincere, but avoids being corny, falling to cliché or becoming preachy. What ‘Love and Terror’ succeeds in doing is delivering hookline with panache, and with a sound that doesn’t resemble anything else being released right now.
Bring on the album!
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