ALBUM REVIEW: Never Let Me Go – Placebo
For a moment there it felt like we might never get another PLACEBO album. While hardly the longest a fanbase have had to wait for a record, the nine years since 2013’s Loud Like Love had really begun to drag for a band who had never paused for more than half that time before. They seemed to have hit that all-too-common groove, content to coast on greatest hits tours and deluxe reissues. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. In fact, their new album Never Let Me Go is a reaction to and rejection of exactly that. It sees the band’s core duo of Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal intentionally stepping out of their comfort zone once again, and in doing so adds nearly a full hour of top quality alternative rock to an already excellent discography.
Perhaps the most obvious sign of PLACEBO pushing themselves on this record is in their extensive use of synths. While these have always decorated the band’s music, their presence is especially keen on Never Let Me Go. They add melody and colour to the record, including not least on the uplifting lead single Beautiful James. It’s a sparkling, joyful number, with a simple, dreamy chorus that paints a picture of the song’s sleeping titular character. Tenth track Chemtrails provides another fine example, its buzzing synths embellishing a driving late-album highlight.
Indeed, Never Let Me Go is an album of rich and intricate detail throughout. Initially aiming to release the record in summer 2020, Molko and Olsdal instead made full use of COVID-indebted delays to finesse the album’s every subtlety; and it shows. Something new seems to jump out on every listen, from its lyrics to its textures to its invariably consistent songcraft. Highlights abound throughout, with the aforementioned Beautiful James and Chemtrails really just the tip of the iceberg. Fifth track The Prodigal is another stand out, its stirring strings providing warm backing to Molko’s almost confessional vocals. It kicks off something of a mid-album peak, with the menacing Surrounded By Spies and the joyous Try Better Next Time both following to demonstrate just a couple of the things PLACEBO do so well.
As with many PLACEBO records, one of Never Let Me Go’s most compelling features lies in Molko’s fascinating lyricism. It’s rarely overly prescriptive or specific, with the expressed intention to allow listeners to draw their own meaning and conclusions. That said, it is often hard to shake many of the mesmerising lines and couplets that fill these 13 tracks. Third track Hugz is a prime example, its repeated mantra of “A hug is just another way of hiding your face” well-matched to the song’s general sense of menace. Elsewhere, his meaning is a little more obvious, including perhaps most of all on the aforementioned Try Better Next Time. This one reflects specifically on the environmental crisis and the approaching point of no return, with Molko exhorting listeners to “Wake up! Wake Up!”, before finally and witheringly suggesting “Somebody take a picture before it’s too late.”
Despite its lengthy runtime, Never Let Me Go does an impressive job of holding its listeners’ attention throughout. It does end on a few moodier cuts, but these are all still well-accomplished pieces in their own right. This Is What You Wanted is mournful and delicate, while closer Fix Yourself finds Molko in a profoundly confrontational mood as he defies someone, perhaps even his own listener, to “Go fix yourself instead of someone else”. It brings an end to a triumphant eighth outing for the band, one that feels long overdue. PLACEBO are back, and they sound just as good as they ever have. They’ve always done their own thing, and Never Let Me Go is no exception. It’s the sound of a band finding new life well over a quarter of a century into their career, and that’s exactly what makes them special.
Rating: 8/10
Never Let Me Go is set for release on March 25th via SO Recordings.
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