Video round-up: The XX, Bloc Party and The Killers
The XX – Angels
The XX first exploded onto the scene in 2008 before releasing their moody self-titled debut a year later. ‘Angels’ is no radical departure from their early work, driven by a dreamy, mellow guitar line that briefly recalls I Like Train’s ‘Terra Nova’ before Romy Madley Croft’s sighing vocals enter the fray. The song will appear on the group’s new album ‘Coexist’, which is set to be released by Young Turks on September 10th.
The Killers – Runaways
It’s been a long three or so years since The Killers went on hiatus and produced songs in their style of western Las Vegas American rock. ‘Runaways’ is the first single of new album Battle Born, and it’s a promising single that restarts the Springsteen influenced era of second album Sam’s Town with the clear lyrics and nostalgic third album Day & Age. It seems as if The Killers are back already without even having gone anywhere.
Frontman Brandon Flowers brings his lyrical motif of teenagers and stars to our ears again and it feels like it’s been sorely missed. ‘Runaways’ has the optimism of a hopeless romantic whether young and old and you can see this throughout the progression of the song. It’s certainly a busy single but it’s not exciting. As far as first singles go, it’s certainly unlike the legendary ‘Somebody Told Me’, ‘When You Were Young’ or even ‘Human’.
Bloc Party – Octopus
Bloc Party complete our trio of bands who have been MIA for yonks (it feels that way, anyhow), having released Intimacy back in the hazy depths of 2008. The London quartet have given us a taster of upcoming album Four with lead single ‘Octopus’ (or Bloctopus, if you prefer) — a track very much in the vein of debut album Silent Alarm while featuring a Muse-esque solo in its closing chapter. It’s not quite the knockout track many were expecting, but it’s a welcome return nonetheless for a band that still clearly holds a special place in many people’s hearts.
