Newsbomb

The Deptford-based group’s 2003 debut, Vehicles & Animals was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, and Tourist offers more of the same, only more so.

Hold on a second. “More of the same, only more so”? Try making some sense.
The fact of the matter is that Tourist exhibits a whole new bag of musical tricks that Vehicles lacked. Somewhere between then and now, Athlete gained a more epic sound. You mean they added strings. Well, yes, but the orchestrations are well judged…
And entirely predictable, too. So predictable, in fact, that you could have orchestrated the album. You did, didn’t you? “Hmm, about time for a swelling crescendo, methinks…”
I think you’re being a little harsh. Some of the tracks are remarkable, musically speaking: ‘Modern Mafia’ and ‘Half Light’ for example.
I’ll give you the music, but indie is all about words and music, and the lyrics don’t live up to the accompaniment. ‘Half Light’ is all Flaming Lips guitars, tinged with a flute-led middle eight, all of which is let down by stereotypical whinging. Meanwhile, “Modern Mafia’ – for all its post-hip hop posturing – is as lyrically interesting as a phone directory. In fact, the closest Tourist gets to being anywhere near as good as Vehicles is ‘Wires’.
Are you done?

‘Wires’ is Tourist’s trick up its sleeve. For once, the strings don’t do what you expect them to, and the chiming guitars on the chorus seem nearer A Silver Mt. Zion than Coldplay. Lyrically, it constructs its story in fragments of detail: “you’ve got wires going/ you’ve got wires coming out of your skin”, “I see hope is here/ in a plastic box”. The tension is palpable in the chorus (“down corridors/through automatic doors”) as the narrator races to see his newborn child. ‘Wires’ cannot help but be affecting. It is an exquisitely crafted pop song that transcends the shortcomings of its companions.

So, you’re saying “just buy the single,” right?
Don’t cheapen the moment.