Unlike the Incredible Hulk, everyone does like Kasabian when they are angry. Or filled with rage, or political fervency.
But what on earth would a Kasabian filled with joy sound like? Their latest album, ‘48:13‘, goes a long way to answering that question.
The answer is not merely all sweetness and light. This is not an album filled with cute bunny rabbits and hearts with arrows through. It is instead filled with passion and joy and, more than anything, this is as near as Kasabian have got to a ‘party’ album.
Over 10 full tracks (and 3 very small ‘interludes’) the band rediscover their love of electronic beats and rhythms. A love they displayed so wonderfully on their self-titled debut, but one which has faded with each album since. The sound is revitalised, its intensity returned. They no longer need to rely sheerly on the huge, angry and intimidating pyrotechnics of recent releases – there are no frighteningly explosive ‘Switchblade Smiles‘ or the usual laddish romps.
On ’48:13′ the tracks are given room to breath, space is the key to the success of this album. Space doesn’t mean overly long, or drawn out. Just that the intense walls of sound that Kasabian have become so adept at creating over recent years are kept to a minimum, and instead a more experimental and considered side is allowed to run free, in a way it hasn’t done for many a year.
‘bumblebee‘ kicks things off, and although it has a huge sound, with a ‘Fast Fuse‘ swagger, it is oddly mid-tempo with wonderfully understated verses, showing confidence, but more than that one of the truly standout moments on the record. ‘stevie‘ is Serge Pizzorno as John Barry, and would not be out of place on any soundtrack.
‘doomsday‘ is more of a standard stomper, and is a welcome extra dimension amongst all the experimentation and excitement, while ‘treat‘ is just that. Possibly the high point of the record, it is an opus of everything that ’48:13’ is; both heavy and aggressive, and thought-provoking and beautiful. It’s two-halves literally encapsulating everything that Kasabian are on this album.
‘glass‘ has that ever so slightly eastern sounding psychedelic style that Kasabian are so adept at creating, ‘explodes‘ offers some wonderful hip-hop style beats that fit Tom Meighan’s aggressive almost spoken style effortlessly – and wonderfully it never actually explodes, it just threatens. These threats, and not always reaching for the obvious, help make the album such a success. Recent single ‘eez-eh‘ is simply flawless, and quite unlike anything they have ever released.
Pizzorno has put together his most consistent set of tracks since their debut, and the performance throughout is equal to the band’s quality. Exciting and never reliant solely on bombast and licks, it is by far their most mature and complete record while managing at points to still be cheeky and puerile. Meighan’s vocals are as belligerent as ever, only now they are key rather than jostling for position.
Above all the band have once again found the thing that actually made them Kasabian in the first place. They weren’t intended to be the next lad band, they were designed for bigger and better things. Their compass is pointing north once more, and the exciting adventure is back on course.
This record once again reminds us just what Kasabian are capable of – which is anything.
