The second Starsailor opus seemed to pass by all too quickly, critics
unnecessarily hasty in their willingness to pass judgement on them. If,
like me, you fell into that trap, I would strongly encourage an
acquaintance with their recent work, with this single acting as the perfect
way in. Their beefed-up guitar section seems to have done wonders for the
band's sound, meaning they've now moved from welterweight to a reassuring
middleweight division in the rock stakes. Apart from anything this means
James Walsh's highly distinctive vocals get more support and don't dominate
the sound picture too much.
This Time is a strong, resilient mid-tempo rocker, with a strong chorus
and an even stronger coda, the mantra repeated over and over. Hints in the
chord structure of the Manics' Motorcycle Emptiness can only be a
good thing, and when that closing section kicks in, the lyric; "When the
beats run dry there's gonna be some blood" packs quite an emotional
punch.
Walsh and his band mean business this time - and the least you can do on
hearing this is go straight out again and buy the album. That's what I'm
going to do.
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