‘This Is Not The World’ is the third studio album from Sunderland based post-punk revivalists The Futureheads. The album has been released through the bands own Nul Records imprint and consists of twelve tracks which therefore provides for forty minutes of music. It’s a pretty solid album from the band, one that has been well received by the likes of the NME and Q Magazine; and for good reason too. I doubt it will be seen as one of the best albums of 2008 by most, it’s still a good effort from the band however and one which comes complete with a number of top tracks.
Right from the offset here the band is intent to make its mark and the first track present on this album is in fact the excellent ‘The Beginning of the Twist’. With it’s catchy chorus and fine use of guitar; this is a track which provides the album with a perfect start and from here on in never does the bands music disappoint. All the bands tracks sound fairly similar, if you like one song from this album you’ll like them all though and with every track here the band always has much to offer with its sound. The music is upbeat and incredibly uplifting to listen to, this is a very fun album and it’s great just to sit back and let the music flow.
One of my personal favourites from this album is ‘Radio Heart’, it was the second single lifted from this release and truly is an absolutely exceptional track. If you loved such Futureheads hits as ‘Hounds of Love’ and ‘Decent Days and Nights’ then you should most certainly have a fine appreciation for this one from the band too. The chorus is powerfully belted out by the band, it’s a great track to sing along to and never is a dull moment provided here.
‘This Is Not the World’ is another from this album that is really quite memorable, it’s the albums title track and exquisitely fine use of drum sound is here made. The drum sound is powerful and provides for an astonishingly uplifting listening experience here. The vocals are finely sung as ever, the track comes together well in all areas and always here the bands sound is very well worked and extremely strongly presented both instrumentally and vocally also. It’s another sing-along Futureheads classic and one which could easily be released commercially as a single to great effect.
‘Work Is Never Done’ is an interesting one from this album in that it all sounds a bit of a mess and yet it actually works really well. The instrumental sound is all over the place, the vocals are very different to at any other point on the album, and the band just generally seems to be trying out loads of different things at once here. The track sounds as though it was cobbled together without much thought or care; it works well though and despite its odd approach it’s actually one of the strongest tracks from this album. ‘Work Is Never Done’ is most definitely a track that stands out supremely from this album, it’s a bit different and out there and this is something that really has worked out rather well for the band here.
In terms of absolute highlights this album possesses yet another hugely effective track in the form of ‘Everything’s Changing Today’. The melody is excellent here, the track is incredibly uplifting to listen to and always the lyrics are very well sung out indeed. The guitar sound is the finest feature of the bands music here by far, the vocal element works well also and a powerful atmosphere has here been put to record by The Futureheads with this fine piece of energetic sound. The band bounces through the lyrical line of ‘We’re going out tonight’ with a great deal of positivity; it’s very well sung out and the way that the vocal sound is worked here is I feel the reason that the track stands out so much.
‘See What You Want’ is the track gifted with the task of bringing this album to its close; it does a very fine job and is yet another incredible tune from this album. The vocal sound is strong here and the melody of the music is absolutely exceptional. It’s not the best track the band has ever written, it’s certainly up there amongst the finest that this ‘This Is Not The World’ release has to offer however and does a very good job of bringing the album to its finish. The albums end is very sudden, you’re not expecting it to come like that and when this happens it’s really quite a shock to the system; ‘See What You Want’ has a very abrupt ending and one which well and truly leaves you wanting for more.
The main complaint I do have with this album is the fact that all the songs do sound so similar here; a little bit more creative innovation certainly wouldn’t go amiss and had the band implemented a few more slightly different sounding tracks here then ‘This Is Not The World’ would probably be pretty much perfect. As it stands this album is merely excellent, not quite perfect but a pretty good stab at perfection nonetheless. ‘Work Is Never Done’ provides the album with something a bit different, and although quite a messy track it’s actually a very good one. With all the other eleven tracks on the album there is little telling them apart, the band is very good at what it does but it could easily be argued that The Futureheads is somewhat of a one trick pony; this is a band that has mastered the art of one particular style of sound but at the same time is a little nervous of venturing any further and trying out new types of tracks. ‘This Is Not The World’ is an album which is well worth owning if you’re up for a bit of post-punk, if you’ve ever heard and hated a Futureheads track in the past however then I’d stay well away from this album from the band as the vast majority of the songs here do sound very much the same so if you don’t like one of the bands tracks it’s therefore very unlikely that you’ll want to listen to any of the others either.
Label: Nul Records
Release Date: May 26th 2008
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UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.