“Love and Terror”
from the album Love and Terror
2009
iTunes
Glasgow is one of the UK’s hotspots for musical forte, with artists such as Biffy Clyro, Paolo Nutini, Glasvegas, Amy MacDonald, Frightened Rabbit, Franz Ferdinand (the list goes on) crafting their sound in the countless number of art school bars and quaint little cafes the city has to offer. Glasgow is really a place for raw talent, and few bands are rawer than The Cinematics.
Moving away from the cheery, popular indie sounds from the group’s debut album A Strange Education, the Cinematics return with a darker, magnetic sound on their latest single “Love and Terror,” the lead track from their second album of the same name.
Now without the backing of a record label the band are free to experiment more with their music. “Love and Terror” has a quality that is a lot less commercial than the four piece’s first effort. Using stern bass frequencies and hypnotically beguiling baritone harmonies it is a world away from the Cinematics former upbeat, guitar lead sound that was part of a road worn out from travels by the likes of We Are Scientists, Maximo Park, and other similar sounding acts.
The tempo of the track keeps itself somewhere between walking and running and plays itself consciously behind the beat giving the song a semi-laid back feel that doesn’t want to make the listener feel too secure. The song continually rises up to a climax before stripping itself down to just the core elements of the track, teasing the ears and soul that wants to push trebled, reverberating guitars up to their peak.
“Love and Terror” is a great, more original course from a band that is now more indie than indie itself. If the rest of the new album is full of hardcore, tight, musical mystique like this it will be a great leap towards the melodic road less adventured. This will hopefully see The Cinematics opening up a stable residency on the respected indie highroad.