Current musical pleasures

I have been listening to a few good albums and tunes of late to unwind after a hard day's work, or to get me going during the weekend. Below are the pick of some of the albums on my current "listening to" pile.

White Lies - To Lose My Life
This band are from London and this new wave influenced album hit number 1 in its first week, helped by the constant radio airplay for the title track with rather dark lyrics. I would say the title track is the pick of the songs on the album, but there is plenty more to keep you listening. The overall theme of the album appears to be one of death, but not necessarily in a morose way. Some of the tracks on the album are dark in theme and tone and the new wave sound to this album goes well with the dark lyrics. The band have drawn comparisons with the likes of Talking Heads and Echo & The Bunnymen and I can see that bands from that era are certainly influential, but I would say there is more of a similarity to The Killers, who have also borrowed heavily from the early 80s new wave/synth pop scene.

Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
Ladyhawke is a solo singer from New Zealand whose style of music could be best described as dance/pop. Again, much as with the White Lies, there are some overtones from the 1980s that are present on the album, with the likes of Blondie and Cyndi Lauper being obvious influences. Best track on the album is "My Delirium", which sounds a little bit like Martha & The Muffins's 1980 hit "Echobeach" in places, which is no bad thing. It is a good, bouncy album which is a good one to stick on when you are needing to energise yourself. Not bad at all.

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
This band come from Seattle, which has long been renowned as being the home to the USA's grunge music scene, with the likes of Nirvana and Pearl Jam hailing from this city on America's west coast. If you are expecting loud riffs and edgy lyrics from this band, however, you will be sorely disappointed. That's not because they are bad, but because their music is far more soothing. This is an album full of chilling harmonies, much in the mould of late 60s/early 70s music from the likes of the Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel or the Mamas and the Papas. If you like their latest release Mykonos which isn't on this album, you should nonetheless enjoy this album, which is suitable for those chilled out evenings with a glass of something.

Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns
Album number 5 from the Northern Irish/Scottish combo and they stick to the tried and tested formula of gentle guitar based ballads. For my money, they have become the new version of Travis, a solid and consistent band who rarely release a poor song but who fall into the solid and unspectacular category. Their third album which brought them to the attention of the mainstream remains their best album overall and there is nothing on this album which compares to "Run" or "How To Be Dead". It is a pleasant enough listen though and there are a few songs which I would describe as growers. I don't think they have quite kicked on though in the way I hoped and expected they would when they released Final Straw.