Tag Archives: razorlight

#723: Razorlight – Leave Me Alone

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There was one day when I was going through my iTunes library when I realised I didn’t really like a lot of Razorlight songs as much as I used to. I’ve written about them many times in the past. Bar ‘Before I Fall to Pieces’ and ‘America’, two of the band’s songs which I still enjoy now, a lot from debut album Up All Night I took off my iPod/Phone years ago. ‘Golden Touch’, ‘Fall, Fall, Fall’, and ‘Dalston’ all get a resounding meh from me now. They just haven’t dated very well, I think. I could go back and delete the posts I wrote when I did like those songs. But I won’t. It’s good to see a younger me in time when I actually thought those songs were worth listening to.

Saying that, I still really like Up All Night‘s opener ‘Leave Me Alone’. It’s basically made from two chords saving some moments in the song’s chorus and a short instrumental bridge, and I’m very sure that the band couldn’t make a true ending for the track so they just faded it out and put some organ and ‘aah-aah’ vocals over it. There’s something about it that makes it sound unfinished. But it’s still undeniably catchy. Frontman Johnny Borrell has this sing-talking thing going through the verses which changes to a more melodic tone during the choruses. The band’s original drummer Christian Smith-Pancorvo plays a good rhythm, switching it up when he goes into double-time at various points… In fact, I think Smith really carries the band performance in this one. Good drums roll that you can slap your knees too.

Razorlight fell off by the wayside quite hard. They released Slipway Fires in 2009 and just disappeared. And the thing was no one really cared that they had gone. The band is together still, but are merely a husk of what they used to be.

My iPod #455: Razorlight – Golden Touch

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I quite liked Razorlight back in the day. We can all agree that Up All Night, the album today’s track can be found on is their best work to date. Their self-titled follow up weren’t that bad either. Never listened to Slipway Fires because “Wire to Wire” made me wince every time. That was in 2008. And as the years have gone on the group’s faded into obscurity. A shame. But wouldn’t really excited by a sudden announcement of a new album any time soon. Just my opinion.

But enough on that. We’re going back to 2004. “Golden Touch” was released just a week before the band’s full debut album hit the shelves in stores nationwide. It became quite popular too. The song was the band’s first top-ten hit at the fourth time of trying, becoming one of their signature tunes and one of the British indie anthems of the year in the process.

Johnny Borrell talks/wails in tune about a girl, who unbeknownst to her, is the subject of many conversations behind her back. Borrell thinks this lady is special, she has the ‘golden touch’, and the song is a basic message to her to take no notice of the haters. Never really liked the way the lead vocals are delivered on here, though they’re made up for by the track’s loose feel established by the arpeggiated guitar licks and its overall groovy rhythm. There are some background ‘ha-ha-haaaaaaaa’ vocals at near two minutes in that are just perfect too.

My iPod #356: Razorlight – Fall, Fall, Fall

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Here it is. The climactic finisher to Razorlight’s debut “Up All Night”. Excuse the video, it appears to be the only one on YouTube which has the song on there. “Razorlight – Fall, Fall, Fall” as a search entry brings up nothing.

And I lie. It’s not very climactic at all. A long piano interlude from the end of “To the Sea” strikes its final chord at the same time just as the guitar of “Fall, Fall, Fall” fades in. There aren’t any other instruments in this, only one guitar, a few “aah-ahh-ahh” backing harmonies and the wailing sounds of Johnny Borrell’s voice. Whether or not that’s enough to make you listen to this song, I’m not very sure.

The track ends on a rather weak note too, after a few utterances of the last line it all fades out on an unresolved chord and fades to silence. That’s probably meant to symbolise something, what it is is something that I fail to see. It’s a good thing I got the re-released “Up All Night”, where instead the album finishes with “Somewhere Else” – a much better way to finish the album off.

Still, I like the song. It’s alright. It’s not one that I’ve memorised and know all the words too, but it does the job nonetheless.

My iPod #291: Razorlight – Don’t Go Back to Dalston

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Anyone hear any fuss being made about “Up All Night“? Nah, me neither. I ask because it’s ten years old this year. “Up All Night” being Razorlight’s first album released in 2004. I like “Up All Night”, it’s a pleasant listen. Most tracks play into one another, I like it when an album does that. Too bad Johnny Borrell became quite unbearable in the following years. It is the best Razorlight album, no doubt about that.

The album includes “Don’t Go Back to Dalston”, a minor key track apparently addressed to Pete Doherty, then a member of The Libertines, to go a bit easy on the drugs. There are two halves to this song. The first half being distinctive verses and choruses, and the other being a long coda with the refrain “Come back, come back, come back” repeated numerous times. That half is longer than the first.

Borrell said the song was barely written, he just envisaged it in his mind after waking up from a hangover. It kinda shows. Still good though.

My iPod #83: Razorlight – Before I Fall to Pieces

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Ah. The third single from Razorlight’s second album from 2006.

I like this song, no matter how many people may not like Johnny Borrell’s voice or as a person. The song was released as a single in December 2006, months way after the actual album was released.

I had actually heard the song before it was released as a single. In primary school, I had a friend and we were into the same music and we would talk about songs that were out and whatever. Baring in mind, we were about eleven at the time. He had this huge musical library on his computer, and I would always request songs for him to send to me through MSN. I don’t know if that annoyed him or not, because I asked for a lot of music. I will just assume that he was cool with it. He invited me around his house one time, so he probably was.

The video always confused me though. I have no idea what’s going on. It probably should have just been a perfomance video. It does feature Guy Pearce, and Scorpio from Gladiators though.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.