“In the Morning”
from the album Razorlight
2006
iTunes
Audio streams of “In the Morning” (via Universal):
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Say what you will about Johnny Borrell and his big mouth, but let’s not forget the man remains one of the best songwriters in the country. Razorlight’s debut, Up All Night, after all, spawned as many sing-along hits as is humanly possible, and in the intervening period between then and now we’ve seen some sparkling new material in the form of “Somewhere Else” and the fantastic Help: A Day in the Life contribution, “Kirby’s House.”
So it comes as little surprise that this official comeback single “In the Morning,“ the first to be culled from the band’s sophomore LP, is really quite good. A song that smashes the critics for six, in fact, and remains resolutely not out by the end of play.
You see, this one just grabs you by the neck from the word go. Drums loop tantalisingly, before the wiry, Television-esque guitars kick in, creating a stage for Borrell’s unmistakable, MDMA-fuelled vocal and a chorus that just drills itself into your head as soon as you hear it. The whole thing has a distinct “We’re back” feel to it, not least when the man himself declares “The songs on the radio sound the same”, suggesting, in typically Borrell-like fashion, that Razorlight are here to save rock ‘n’ roll once again. And if this single was any less brilliant, he’d look like a pillock.