Gary Lightbody and co take the final step of the journey from interesting little indie-band-made-good to complete corporate whores by serving up the theme tune to Spider-Man 3 in the run-up to headlining four festivals this summer (five, if you count the two V sites separately).
Should we hate them for it? Yes. Do we hate them for it? No, because it's actually a decent song, whether it's tied to a blockbuster movie or not.
Signal Fire starts slowly and builds to an odd, fragmented crescendo, swaps between the two for a while and then speeds up again. It's an unusual tempo that gives a definite impression of needing some accompanying visuals before it will make complete sense. Then it quietens down again, a bit like the fast, slow, fast, fast, slow that's supposedly the magic formula for plotting movie acts.
They manage to keep their own identity throughout the song - not always easy on a franchise soundtrack - and that deserves some praise on its own. It's catchier the more times you hear it and it works remarkably well.
Damn. Wouldn't it have been more fun it we could have hated them for it?
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