I know what you’re thinking: hell no! But hear me out: The UK’s biggest exports are currently Coldplay and Mumford and Sons, which are very much the Dulux of music. You can dress it up as much as you like, but it’s still paint. It serves a purpose; it’s generally more expensive than you’d expect, and it’s only found exciting by people who don’t get out much. Then we have Muse, a band I have much adored in the past. Absolution is textbook melodrama, and a really fantastic album. However, they’ve become a pastiche of themselves, like a 21st century Kiss: superb display, but with a crushing lack of substance.
New music is causing little respite. It’s incredibly formulaic and hard to get excited by. A bit like a Sandra Bullock film, there’s a bit of hype before the release, the brief enjoyment whilst it runs its course, then the slap in the face obvious ending. (She gets the guy). So is rap the new rock? It’s currently far more exciting for a start. Superstars such as Kanye West and Eminem are currently producing consistent, insightful and incredibly produced material. Watch The Throne is a great example of how collaborations can work. With regards to new music, the underground rap scene is currently living its own renaissance, with Odd Future stealing all the press with their polemical and generally fantastic material, and Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, is bringing tight production and contemporary self-analytical lyrics alongside lines about swag. Or… I’ll just stick to Sandra Bullock films. You decide!
