Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat (Full Time Hobby)
5/5
By: Charlie Potter
In an interview not too long ago, Morrissey could be heard saying that he doesn't listen to much contemporary music because there are no good song writers anymore. He's probably about the most qualified person to say this, but we've discovered he's resoundingly wrong. If he sorts his attitude out, he may just benefit from hearing proper songs from good songwriters, like there are right here, on this record, right now, in 2007.
I don't really have any beef with Morrissey, after all, the man's a hero. But this is the sort of album that makes me very protective of the craft of songwriting. Some of these songs have brought tears to my eyes, and I'll fight anyone who thinks to say that is melodramatic or pathetic (yeah, f**kin' come on, let's fight, I'm no ponce...). I question the existence of a soul in a person such as that. To them I'd announce that they'll live their entire lives either inert or in misery. See, there I go... I care for this album and I want you to care for it too. Get this record - early in a critique of an album though it may be for such a statement, I can't say this enough times.
Malcolm is a proper song writer with proper songs, do you understand me? If he wrote books or poems they would be fantastic. He doesn't need a melody, he doesn't need his fantastic vocal delivery, he's a proper writer through and through. It's so tempting to start quoting lyrics, but if I were to do that I would have to quote the entire the album bar 7 words, (there's one line in a particular song that he repeats a couple of times that I don't like, the only clue I'll give is that I am not a modernist when it comes to lyrics - if you are a modernist, then you've got it made). I tell you this only to make the point that I would swear by any other line on this incredible album. In the words of Mr. Middleton himself (just let me give you this one snippet, please) he's a 'superhero songwriter, super cliché chorus finder', though maybe not so much of the latter.
'A Brighter Beat' is the sort of album in which every song is good enough to be your favourite, and will undoubtedly be your favourite at one point. The very fact that the album wills you to partake in finding a favourite speaks volumes, and is another reason you should put it at the top of your 'must purchase' list. 'Superhero Songwriter' is a brilliantly honest critique of his position and trade, in which he openly admits that songs don't change the world, songs are good because they make you feel emotive, and I thank Malcolm Middleton for reminding me of this, for making me think of the many reasons I enjoy music. I thank Malcolm Middleton for reminding me that there are people out there, lots of people, that feel the same as I do. I'm not deluded in thinking that there are people that can truly and deeply empathise with me after all. The way he does this is also perfect - he gets to the very root of the problem and makes you realise with word after word in a perfectly beautiful mind cleansing sense that it's not at all a problem, in fact, it's part of the brilliance of life that we are all essentially the same and have the same base emotions and that is something that we can revel in.
As such the album is full of lots of issues that are fundamental to life, some of them difficult, and yet the tone of a great deal of this music is very up beat. This is perfectly articulated in the opener 'We're All Going to Die', an uplifting song about how comforting it is to remember whilst you're thinking aimlessly that you are in fact going to die alone, and so is everyone else. There are very few messages in the English language, or any human tongue in fact, more fundamental to human existence than this sentiment.
Super cliché? Well, so much of this album sounds like you have heard it a million times, but the way that it manages to be not at all generic is hard to fathom. But when you've written as many songs as Malc you just know where to put those hooks. He gives you what you want, and why shouldn't he? This doesn't make it any more difficult to listen to over and over again, probably because he's washed away all the mud and shite to reveal gleaming diamonds, but it is still remarkable how he can write such innovative music without being jarringly 'out there', off-puttingly difficult or particularly confrontational.
I've not heard that Deerhoof album yet, but until I do (and perhaps even afterwards), this is the best album of the year so far. It has gripped my entire household, and anyone else who I have managed to get to listen to it. It has brought meaning to our lives. We've been discussing favourites and characteristics of the album endlessly. You can be one of these people too. You can! It's easy! Make 'A Brighter Beat' something you own, and you too like I and others will feel this bizarre wish to actually be Scottish, a phenomena that a friend pointed out I was resistant to at first, with but now realise is true. It starts with the accent, then the deep frying... these things then get more frequent, until you feel like a fake and you wish you really were Scottish. That's some achievement.
Artists in this article: Malcolm Middleton
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