White Lies - Ritual
- Written by Kenneth McMurtrie
Duran Duran are back on form with the best album they've released in years. At least from the opening bars of White Lies' 'Is Love' you would be forgiven for thinking that, as it readily brings to mind Le Bon & Co. circa A View To A Kill. This is no bad thing. Whilst on the whole Ritual is a tad less anthemic than one might expect and the bass is further back in the production than previously, the overall pace remains the same (other than on 'Peace & Quiet' and final track 'Come Down') and should keep the festival crowds happy throughout the Summer to come.
Lyrically too (as pointed out to an extent in the live arena late last year) things are the same mix of grass roots wisdom and pretension, so no need to flog that dead horse further. An element of profundity is though creeping in, as in the chorus of 'Is Love' – "She says the only thing I've ever found that's greater than it sounds is love." Synths and other electronics are in greater evidence than on the band's first album lending it at times a mid-period Simple Minds flavour – anthemic replaced by symphonic.
'Streetlights' starts off seriously downbeat (sharp objects should be put under lock and key) but once the full band get in on the act and the guitar part starts ringing out it's probably one of the most uplifting songs of the ten. Which is all part of the oddity of the band – whilst partially wooden on stage and looking that they're up there under duress, they make very crowd pleasing music so are destined to have to perform it live (unless they colectively decide to do a Syd Barrett). 'Holy Ghost' is one of the most danceable tunes they've concocted to date to the extent that in its original form it already sounds as if its been farmed out for the remix treatment.
So here then you have a consumate second full-length release from a band playing to their existing strengths and revealing new ones. With the current government and state of the nation leading many to cast up comparisons with the Eighties White Lies are, either by fate or design, in the right vein to update one of the sounds of thirty years ago and make the most of it.
