Stay Together
Kaiser Chiefs
(Caroline International)
Two stars
Fans looking forward to pogoing along with the Kaiser Chiefs in Dubai next month, when they headline Party in the Park, will be hoping the set list does not include too many tracks from the band’s latest album.
The Leeds four-piece go pop with Stay Together. Gone are the spiky guitars and giddy choruses that made I Predict A Riot, Ruby and Never Miss a Beat such mosh-pit favourites. The new release is full of loping, disco bass lines, shimmying riffs, swirling synths and Ricky Wilson singing in a falsetto.
There is nothing wrong with a change of direction — many fans of the band might grudgingly concede that a change was necessary. As with most groups kicking along for more than a decade, they had a period of instability and uncertainty. Their last two albums, 2011's The Future is Medieval and 2014's Education, Education, Education & War failed to strike a chord outside a dedicated fan base.
Perhaps sensing diminishing returns, they went back to the drawing board and enlisted producer Brian Higgins, who brought his pop sheen to the likes of Xemonania, Kylie Minogue and Girls Aloud.
The result is an exquisite-sounding record with great hooks — but you get that sinking feeling Kaiser Chiefs have been neutered in the process. Lead single Parachute has a sky-high chorus, yet only registers as a whimper as opposed to Kaiser's Chiefs' usual gut punch.
Hole in My Soul is slightly better, but also lacks the energy to be the life-affirming anthem it strives to be. Press Rewind benefits from a prowling beat, reminiscent of Kraftwerk, as Wilson delivers his best Simon Le Bon impression.
The highlight is Why Do You Do It to Me? The boys lock into a catchy electro-groove with Wilson's vocals a studied cool.
In High Society, he delivers that falsetto over a squidgy-sounding beat. The whole affair, however, goes nowhere.
Stay Together ends on a relative high — Still Waiting is a well-crafted pop-rock track with a wonderfully yearning chorus. It is the sound of the Kaiser Chiefs at their most natural.
While the band should be applauded for trying new tricks, Stay Together is too placid to make a real effect.
saseed@thenational.ae
