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Hey Colossus - In Black and Gold
Puzzled? After the first four minutes of In Black and Gold you might be. Was there a cock up at the record pressing plant? Isn’t this a Vangelis tune from the Blade Runner soundtrack? As it unfolds and the dreamy vocals kick in you’d be tempted to think it’s a long-lost Spiritualized song. But as the song’s title mischievously suggests: “Hold On”. It’s good advice, because aural relief is on the way in “Sisters and Brothers” – a tune that slowly throbs its way into existence with frontman and chief instigator Paul Sykes waiting in the darkened wings for the chance to pop out and snarl: “You can’t wake up! Turn on the lights again!”
As head fakes go, it’s an effective one. But for the high octane British sextet this curveball is hardly the exception on their eighth album – it’s the new rule. Yet things quickly get back to firmer and freakier footing with “Hey, Dead Eyes, Up!” as the ugly guitar licks and Rhys Llewellyn’s percussive juggernaut is whipped into a devilish frenzy as the irascible Sykes implores: “Lie / Cheat / Steal / Do what you feel / Feel / Good / Do it again,” with a worryingly large grin on his face. It may only be three short minutes, but its colossal grind and ugly final freak out are the first clues that this is the same band which created the hookah-hitting triumph of an album Cuckoo Live Life Like Cuckoo just one year ago.
Read the full 9/10 review here: Line of the best fit
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