Follow The Rules

Arriving back from Bali to the real world of two way streets and set prices for goods and services left me a little down. The life of a person in Bali is so simple and while that also limits ones ability to experience life to the full, it also allows the chance to be blissfully unaware of what your missing out on (like Girl Talk coming to Australia). None the less, to arrive home with the latest from The Whitest Boy Alive bouyed my somber mood.

After hearing Dreams or even merely from the opening chords of 'Burning' I had little doubt that The Whitest Boy Alive would be burnt into the very fabric of my soul. So this makes follow ups a very dangerous game for everyone involved. This is where the cracks in many fan - band relationships begin to show and often it can be heart breaking when you discover your heroes aren no longer who they said they were.

Anyways so I'm reading the press release it said their previous effort Dreams was "equally suited to a busy dancefloor, or a quiet night on the sofa" and I thought to myself how can I possibly build anything more perfect than these few words. It's impossible, that was genius. Rather than wasting my time with this noodle scratcher any further I thought it a much better idea to stop thinking and actually give Rules a listen before I go for a baked dinner at the girlfriend's house.

So what is Rules actually like? Shut up and tell us! I hear you say.

It is everything I'd hoped for and more. They keep the delicate balance between dancefloor and background music however this clearly is intended to appeal to the dancefloor side of things for the most part on tracks like 1517, Keep It a Secret & High on the Heels with it's coffee lounge moments still present if not slightly scaled back on Timebomb & Rollercoaster Ride.

The Whitest Boy Alive has treaded into dangerous waters by adding a lot more than the simple combination that went with on Dreams, it certainly works out with tracks like Courage showing a perfect unity of it all. If there isn't already look for some hot remixes of Courage very soon I'm sure.

I think the most endearing quality of Rules though and what shines out so intelligently is that where I previously mentioned this track is more dancefloor or this track is more coffee lounge, overall every song is such a delicately perfect balance between these two characteristics of The Whitest Boy Alive that you could make a counter case for each song being something other than how I've heard it.

This may sound bizarre but if I were ever to make a Las Vegas Casino with an indie flavour to it, The Whitest Boy Alive would have a stint playing there longer than Wayne Newton and Celine Dion put together. Rules is very up market if you ask me, like you wear a The Whitest Boy Alive t shirt and everyone may not have heard of them, but you don't wear it for that reason, you wear it for the notoriety you get from other tastemakers as skilled as yourself.

Without going over the top, I honestly think The Whitest Boy Alive's Rules is set to remain my most favourite release of the year and I think few could argue that Rules is indeed a sublime triumph for music that aims to be minimalist pop but ends up being an intelligent, artistic and complex musical presentation.

Release: Rules will be out 7th March in Australia through Inertia.

For now I suggest you hurry up by being introduced to or re-aquainting yourself with Dreams.I have no idea how official or unofficial this clip is, but I like it none the less and it allows you good people to hear the track 'Courage' which is my personal favourite.

Youtube: The Whitest Boy Alive - Courage