Placebo have always been in a league of their own, and this record is no different.
Textural synths are the runway upon which Brian Molko is allowed to strut with every different shade of his vivid creativity. There are nods to iconic Placebo moments’ Protege Moi’, ‘
For What It’s Worth’ and ‘
Song To Say Goodbye’, which seem to have come back into season on certain songs. All the while, the fuzzy, new, lead single ‘
Beautiful James’ is a statement piece to Placebo’s daring and endless ambition but is by no means representative of the direction the duo have taken on ‘
Never Let Me Go’. Instead, there are accents of paranoia, apathy, poetry, despair and hope, which all fade in and out of focus. Sometimes they’re hand in hand, as in ‘
This Is What You Wanted’, where the piano pirouettes while the guitars bleed out to devastating effect.
This album has a timeless quality within the lineage of Placebo’s sound. At the same time, though, the songwriting is a blinding spotlight on human nature right now; the good, the bad and the ugly. It makes for another outstanding album from one of the most consistent and prolific bands of a generation.
