(A review of the third Placebo album ‘Black Market Music’)
This drug-reference soaked set of songs shows a songwriter who is starting to look outside his own (always riveting) personal sphere, although there are still many heartfelt and confessional moments. There are songs which touch on racism, politics, and even a searing put down of the sentiments expressed by many rap artists. Judging from the numerous press interviews which are appearing at the moment, the band feel that this third album finally achieves what they set out to do.
They wanted the general feel of the album to be that of an under the counter item...something you shouldn’t really have, and there is a great deal in the lyrics to arouse speculation and provoke thought and reflection. The two singles are not really representative of the album as a whole, which is a typical Placebo device intended to startle their audience and avoid formula and complacency.
The opener, Taste In Men, which sounds almost industrial, is a song about that hurt, pain and desperation which follows the break up of a relationship and those terrible feelings of wanting that partner back at any price, however humiliating. The sound here reflects that pain.
Days Before You Came is a more typically Placebo track which storms out of the speakers and on the surface is about a person who is waiting and waiting ....and waiting for a lover or maybe even their dealer to arrive. There is a lovely spit of frustration in the line "I didn’t want you anyway" which is also rather spitefully camp and made me smile in recognition of the sentiment.
Special K is not, as you may think, a song about breakfast cereal. Ketamine is now the drug of choice for the Ecstasy generation, and this is its street name. Again there is that analogy between the rush of falling in love and the rush of an upper. "No hesitation, no delay, you come on just like Special K" The music is also a rush to a better place for the 3.45 minutes it lasts.
Spite and Malice is the second and most radical departure from Placebo’s established style. The rapper Justin Warfield (One Inch Punch) guests, and there is an unsettling menace threading through this track. Brian was inspired by the various anarchic happenings around the world in the last months, especially the so-called ‘May Day Riots’. When I spoke to him last week, he seemed quite keen on the idea that these might be just the start of a new wave of youth uprising........ “revolution, dope, guns, fucking in the streets” are the opening lyrics.
Passive Aggressive is more enigmatic, both lyrically, and in the creeping, gentle guitars which later explode unexpectedly in a Radiohead-like assault. There is some reference to the techniques of religious indoctrination.
Black Eyed will find resonance with every teenager who has ever battled with their parents, and then matured to discover that eventually you have to take responsibility for your own actions, and can’t blame everything on your upbringing. The inhabitant of the song is “forever black-eyed, the product of a broken home.”
Blue American ( another drug reference, this time to Vaigra or Valium) : The protagonist is talking to various friends and family, and thanks them for the parts they have played in his life. The "thank you"s’ sound more ironic than sincere, and the whole song radiates self-disgust. There is also a dig at the current prevalence of rap music “Now ebonics rule our song...those mother-fuckers got it wrong..” The music very much reflects the words, reminding me of a film soundtrack, and underlines and adds to the general, brooding air of self-hatred.
Slave To The Wage is probably the most straightforward song on the album, without the hidden undertones of other tracks. Its an entreaty to us to follow our dreams and not be caught in the every day nine to five, racing towards death. Its almost poppy and definitely has an upbeat sound.
Commercial For Levi is a plea to a friend to give up his many excesses. I was tempted to ask Brian what “choking trojan” was, but bottled it, so you will have to use your imagination..... The lyric, “You should close your fly......you’ll die, don’t die, please don’t die.” expresses the general theme.
Haemoglobin is Placebo’s take on Billie Holliday’s ‘Strange Fruit’, except here the story is looked at through the eyes of the victim. The sound is very varied with lots of unusual and unexpected touches.
Narcoleptic : Try this one when you can’t sleep! Beautiful, sailing guitar drifts you away, nodding out into your most beatific, benevolent dreams. There is a plea to be careful, or you might not wake up again, but the music negates that, and just allows you fall away peacefully.
Peeping Tom : This song is a very interesting and really quite sympathetic look into the mind of a voyeur. He has nothing in his life other than his obsession with the object of his affections, and yet there are certainly some ecstatic moments for this person at complete rock bottom. “I’m weightless” he says, and the sound floats along with him, isolated as he is, in his own world.
Hidden Track : I am old enough to find these hidden tracks a lot of fun in a teenagerish ‘I know something you don’t know’ way. Like the great track hidden on Without You I’m Nothing, this one is also very portentous. The drums and bass are a heart beat backing to a strange song about a friend of the singer with a “wasted face that swallowed time” who is about to be swept away by some awful armageddon and is “running on black market blood”
If Placebo was the first youthful burst of energy which launched this band , and Without You I’m Nothing was reflective of the shock and pain of realisation that fame has a price......an incredibly poignant album, even in these cynical times...... then Black Market Music is certainly an indication that this band have taken charge of their direction, and this time have given us exactly what they want us to hear. I am avoiding the word maturity, as Brian says that makes him feel like a cheese, but there is certainly an assured touch of three people who know just what they want to do, and just how to do it. This album has immediate appeal but is also a grower which will reward you more and more with each listen .
(Brian had an email from David about the new album. He said "Jolly good album, chaps. Go to the top of the class!")
Its out on Oct 9th on Hut records, and you can pre-order it here.
:))
spaceface