Getting people to dance is a hell of a thing. The lyrics might be poetry incarnate and the guitar solos might knock spots off Jimmy Page, but if nobody so much as taps their foot, you’re wasting your time. They aren’t feeling it.
‘Lifeline‘, though…’Lifeline‘ makes you move. This is dancing music. No matter if you’re hearing it for the first or the fifteenth time, this striking little snatch of cruel precision gets your legs spiralling, your shoulders rolling and your head thumping in 4/4. Skeletal guitars and tidal synths bounce and flash across the aural spectrum like electrical signals between nerves.
That’s not to say ‘Lifeline‘ is your average cheery indie soundbite, destined for advert soundtrack status. It stands up for itself, listen after listen.Then it takes on another aspect, as a statement in its own right. The words are so familiar somehow – “I’m better off alone.” “Leave me to breath it out.” We become privy to an inner life of secret pain; a lover’s fraught struggles against his own doubts and fears.
Lifeline (Single) by The Answering Machine
Who doesn’t fear over-thinking romance? Who hasn’t felt utterly helpless sometimes? In spirit at least, ‘Lifeline‘ is oddly similar to The Who’s synth/power chord masterpiece ‘Baba O’Riley‘; both capture a stirring sense of defiance and last chances, matched up with a melody of purest simplicity and power.
The Answering Machine, authors of this peppy heartbreaker of a song, have lined it up for a Valentine’s Day release. On a day so inescapably tied up with petrol station flowers and treacly hand-written sentiments, ‘Lifeline’s edgy hooks sound to be a welcome release from Hallmark’s usual smothering influence over the day. Not to mention the download price is a damn sight cheaper than roses. Happy Heartbreak Holiday, everyone.
(Simon Moore)