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Sunday, 08 April 2007 10:51

Electrelane is an all-girl four-piece rock band, and this is their love song. What is immediately catchy is Verity Susman's hopeless tone in her vocals. The failed love and awkward desperation are so relatable, realistic, and accurate, the lyrics read like a diary.

 

 

The first Electrelane album I heard was the Singles, B-Sides & Live compilation. While parts of songs were entertaining, nothing except for "I Want to Be the President" was outstanding. So when news came that No Shouts, No Calls was to be released in late April, it didn't really thrill me. Later, when I heard that Arcade Fire (and the Blow) selected Electrelane to support them on their Neon Bible tour, my attitude changed.

The single "To the East," and the first six songs alike, are incredible. However, the highlight for me was "6 Cut and Run." The song is placed tenth on the 11-track disc, so hearing "6 Cut and Run" without the aid of the more electrifying cuts takes away from its beauty, and Electrelane's versatility.

Electrelane is an all-girl four-piece rock band, and this is their love song. What is immediately catchy is Verity Susman's hopeless tone in her vocals. The failed love and awkward desperation are so relatable, realistic, and accurate, the lyrics read like a diary.

The music starts with a basic drumbeat, unlike their more danceable beats, which is more conducive to storytelling. The organ and bass work provide for the most infectious melody I've heard this year. Personally, I find it hard to listen to a track without words, but if I couldn't foresee the superb vocal job from Susman, I would have let this track go instrumental, like Electrelane's pre-2004 material.

With Susman's voice, which sounds too exotic to be from Brighton, the band could never pull off a true pop song. If you look at the lyrics, though, it's their best effort: "I am waiting to be next to you/ Hoping that you feel the same." The accepting and truth-seeking chorus, "Say it, say it now/ You're not in love with me anymore/ I've tried my best to catch up with you," opposes the still hopeful verses.

The instrumentation remains steady throughout, so there is no true bridge, but after the secondary chorus, "Doo doo doo/ We're not fish in the sea/ But I thought you were the one for me," Susman's lyrics do the work for her. "Maybe I'm afraid of change/But I think it's more that I still like you/Just as much as when we met" shifts the mood, as she tries to blame herself for not wanting to break up, ultimately demonstrating a more genuine love.

What completes this song is its production and execution. Maybe Electrelane got lucky and I am giving them the benefit of unintended deeper meanings, but there's an aquatic feel to this song, which plays into the "fish in the sea" line and creates a parallel of her love and its drowning. The "moving away" line in the opening verse is accentuated throughout with echoes on the vocals and instruments, along with distanced backup vocals. Lastly, the production is purposely aged to accommodate the primitive relationship of a helpless girl. A | Joseph O'Fallon

 

Lyrics

Seeing you here it makes me smile

And I hear you laughing all day long

I am waiting to be next to you

Hoping that you feel the same

It seems like you're moving away

It's the end I need to know

Before I have to let you go

Just not ready to be alone

Say it Say it now, you're not in love with me anymore

I've tried my best to catch up with you (2x)

Say it Say it now (3x)

I've tried my best to catch up with you

Oh hoo hoo

Doo Doo Doo we're not fish in the sea

But I thought you were the one for me

Maybe I'm afraid of change

But I think it's more that I still like you

Just as much as when we met

I don't want to sleep alone

To think of you with someone else

Holding out when I still want to

Reach for you and hold you close