Foggy Notion November 2008

WHITELIES THEKLA SUNDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER White Lies are a band being catapulted towards success.

Fiction Records, a Polydor imprint are really pushing them.

Having completed their debut offering in Belgium with haste, the band, without breath flung themselves into festival season and with that ending only recently, they have embarked on a coast to coast UK tour followed with gigs in America and then an ensuing UK support tour with Glasvegas taking them to the merry holiday. These guys are busy, real busy.

But that’s not the impression White Lies exude. Foggy Notion met them shortly after their soundcheck and they were tired, recovering from ill health but overall laid back.

Their almost immediate triumph is surprising, even for them.

Having only started the band roughly a year ago in London they consider themselves ‘lucky’ that people have taken an interest, keen interest, in their soft melancholy noise.

They could be forgiven for indulging in brash antics celebrating the recent success of their anxiety ridden single ‘Death’, breaking the charts at No.52. Pretty good. But they’re keeping their complete bodies firmly on planet Earth.

Keeping professional is essential and a day off allows recuperation and trivial entertainments. They mention bowling and the cinema as possibilities.

They’re proud of their achievements and emphasize this when talk shifts to their new album provisionally titled ‘To Lose My Life or Lose My Love’. An apt despairing conundrum detailing a dark social emotional fear, setting the tone for what the album addresses. Revenge, loss, death and other such black topics emerge as the theme, intensified by a strong lyrical and dynamic vocal presence.

An intentional theme White Lies assure us, allowing a meaningful connection with their audience and a method of expressing themselves stylistically and musically, perhaps especially in their stage performance.

A crowded boat with striking moody blue lights piercing a dark stage, occupied neatly by featureless faces filled with shadow certainly indicated a solemn, sunken show. It is this atmospheric spectacle, which White Lies are so keen to create that accentuates the funereal lyrics and encapsulates the audience. The have persona, an aura.

The melancholy show began strongly and White Lies delivered a worthwhile set punctuated by their most noted songs ‘Death’ and ‘Unfinished Business’ these two tracks are prominent amongst a set with little diversification. The opening vocals to ‘Death’ are reminiscent of Echo and the Bunnymen and the entire song feels driven by a pushing beat.

Overall the song was delivered well and it was the first time the audience seem to engage with the music.

Although dealing with similar sorrow topics ‘unfinished business’ is definitely uplifting it has a lively rhythm and a sour humour and though the band were fairly motionless through the set they let themselves go with feet tapping and smiles, they enjoyed this closing tune. Other songs were met with contemplation by the audience a slow consumption of the new material but towards the finish I sensed satisfaction permeate the hull.

The crowd left impressed and what will probably become an eagerly anticipated album effort is billed for release in January 2009 but there will be plenty of opportunities to see White Lies perform before that and it is certainly a beneficial experience.

Text: Dan Nightingale; Photos: James Berry (mrnovemberphotography.co.uk)