Live Review: CHAIRLIFT - Something

The second album Something from duo Chairlift is the type of album that bands of this calibre make when they have succumbed to the strain that popularity and expectation attract. Recording took place in both the band's hometown of New York as well as London and the latter's influence may have assisted them in producing an album about relationships breaking down and the assumed loneliness that must inevitably come with touring (the word “older” comes to mind).

As Cool As A Fire echoes “nothing ever lasts forever”, it demonstrates the sugariness of the last album (the much lauded 2008 release Does You Inspire You) having been replaced with a grey cloud, hidden in tracks such as Ghost Tonight and Take It Out On Me, where it's a case of fun and naivety being substituted for reality. Even the lead single Amanaemonesia and opening track Sidewalk Safari permeate a foreboding and sense of uncertainty.

The mood that underpins the songs (and it's one of those albums that will take a number of listens before you can really decide whether you like it or not) does eventually lift and it isn't until Frigid Spring that you might actually snap out of the trance and take notice (although it's arguable this occurs during I Belong In Your Arms). To this effect, it has to be said Chairlift look further inward to actually deliver an album that has depth, honesty and longevity, mixed with a sort of ragged intimacy that sustains interest and is actually quite good.