Black Swan sounds impressive for live gigs

Music: Athlete Virgin
Rating: 2.5
British indie outfit Black Swan has been chugging along since their first album Vehicles & Animals that was out in 2003.
This, their fourth studio outing, is a mixed affair. There are some utterly avoidable tracks and there are some numbers that are worth the album’s sticker price. While they follow in the footsteps of post-Britpop stadium-filling acts like Coldplay, they are relatively unknown in the rest of the world and the US market which a band has to crack before truly being called successful.
Light The Way is a dynamic anthem-type number with a chorus that is meant for live gigs. Taking things down on the tempo-scale are Don’t Hold Your Breath and The Getaway, which is reminiscent of The Stone Roses or even The Verve. Rubik's Cube closes the album starts off with an arrangement in classic Beatles’ Hey Jude style, with just the piano and vocals. Then the rhythm guitar kicks in followed by the drums in the subsequent verses. And it all ends with a wall of sound that would do Phil Spector proud. The rest of the album though is rather lightweight. However, don’t miss Black Swan Song which is most definitely the album’s highlight.
By Reagan Rasquinha