Not Fade Away - David Kitt. (version anglais)

[ampattenden]

Not Fade Away has a kind of regretful tone, appearing to be a confession of the minor sins that make us human – not knowing when to shut up sometimes, getting a bit too drunk, hiding from problems, being impatient for the working week to end…
This is perfectly summed up by Guilty Prayers, Pointless Ends, which has a similar tune to a track from Sonic Youth’s latest album yet is different – this is an acoustic, finger-picked number; and comes to attain a sort of Arcade Fire vibe with the addition of a female vocal by Michelle Stoddart. The male-female harmony adds a new dimension to the ballad, which quietly observes ordinary people living their lives and making their mistakes, like “That post office girl today, she said she was wishing the week away.”
Musically, the Irishman has a versatile, genre-skipping sound; which can vary from calm, soothing ballads such as the aforementioned Guilty Prayers, Pointless Ends; to potential dancefloor hits. Highlights of the latter include the up-tempo Say No More, and Up To You, which with its deep, expansive, tuneful bass, a high-pitched organ reminds a little of Broken Social Scene, except of course with a hell of a lot less members. It has a genuinely interesting sound, with lots of depth, and its chorus becomes something approaching anthemic – it could sound fantastic in a club at full volume.
Don’t Fuck with Me is so Hot Chip it could be put on a re-release of The Warning as a bonus track and nobody would notice. The tune, the lazy dancefloor rhythm, the subject matter, even the sound of Kitt’s voice - which has the classic sort of calm, emotionless delivery of threats to a nice tune that Alexis Taylor specialises in. This album may well be the sound of an audiophile who just loves music and sometimes wants to emulate his heroes, which one could say was proven in 2004 with the release of his covers album, The Black And Red Notebook. It is fairly easy to spot his influences, which at times tend to be worn on the proverbial sleeve, but don’t let that put you off. The songs themselves are very good in their own right. If you too love music for music’s sake, you will almost certainly enjoy them.
It is perhaps slightly ironic that final song, With You, advises, “Just be yourself, you can’t be anybody else,” whilst sounding very much like a Rilo Kiley number… but nevertheless, it is lovely. Sometimes we can over-analyse.