EP Review: Unbelievable Truth – Citizens Band
Sometimes it's easier to ignore the truth and embrace the lies. Especially if the truth is fundamentally unbelievable. It's a special kind of truth you've probably never heard of. But now it's time to face the unlikely facts. Meet "Unbelievable Truth" – the band that got famous in the late 90s with releases on Virgin Records and forward-thinking Oxford indie label Shifty Disco. Now the giants are back with "Citizens Band" – their first release in 25 years.
The EP is a child of pure joy of making music in one room with people that you have special connection with.
The EP is a child of pure joy of making music in one room with people that you have special connection with.
It feels very different this time. So much time has gone by. I certainly wasn’t expecting it, I thought we were all happy in our own lives doing our own stuff and that we’d had a really good run of it, and while I might have had an inkling we’d do something at some point, I never considered we might actually write and record new music.
Jason Moulster
bass
The record opens with the eponymous track. It's a mesmerizing call to "all comrades" carried on the back of a transparent, lulling piano. The track starts off as intimate until it expands into (quetly) epic proportions.
"Non-Combatant" continues the appeal to something bigger than the small circle we are used to. The tone is set by the hymn-like a capella intro and then carried over to the rest of the song, painted in smoother and more comfortable chamber indie rock colours. The vocals reach dramatic heights at times, sounding somewhat operatic or, probably more precisely, akin to Russian romance, which naturally creates associations with Muse and, to a lesser extent, Radiohead.
There are dramatic moments like this on what's probably the record's catchiest track – "Chemtrails". The song also has a dark and epic finale giving the voice to the forces of chaos that the narrator (presented by the track's shinier, poppier side) fights against.
"Non-Combatant" continues the appeal to something bigger than the small circle we are used to. The tone is set by the hymn-like a capella intro and then carried over to the rest of the song, painted in smoother and more comfortable chamber indie rock colours. The vocals reach dramatic heights at times, sounding somewhat operatic or, probably more precisely, akin to Russian romance, which naturally creates associations with Muse and, to a lesser extent, Radiohead.
There are dramatic moments like this on what's probably the record's catchiest track – "Chemtrails". The song also has a dark and epic finale giving the voice to the forces of chaos that the narrator (presented by the track's shinier, poppier side) fights against.
“Chemtrails”, perhaps the poppiest track on the EP, has a decidedly non-pop theme. “I don’t write many political songs but this is one,” explains vocalist/guitarist Andy Yorke. “I’m very frightened by the way in which conspiracy theories like the ones around chemtrails have been unleashed in the world. But it’s also kind of ironic - people believed chemtrails were being used to control people’s minds. That’s as ludicrous as it sounds. But at the same time it does feel like powerful people have found a way to use the internet to influence what we think, to make us believe whatever they want. That sounds like another crazy conspiracy theory, doesn’t it?
Andy Yorke
vocals, guitars
The atmosphere grows more intimate (and vulnerable) on the closing song "Madison", circling back to where we started. The acoustic guitar, electric piano and organ sound warm, embracing you like your most empathetic friends. And Andy Yorke lends the track an outstanding vocal performance.
The song sums up the vibe of the whole EP perfectly – it's equal parts comfort and pain. The world is full of suffering. And the best way to deal with it is to connect to something bigger than you are, which the band does not only in its lyrics. It's the mere essence of "Unbelievable Truth", best described in the words of its drummer Nigel Powell: “There’s just something about when the three of us make music at the same time – it’s greater than the sum of its parts in ways that I can’t describe.”
The song sums up the vibe of the whole EP perfectly – it's equal parts comfort and pain. The world is full of suffering. And the best way to deal with it is to connect to something bigger than you are, which the band does not only in its lyrics. It's the mere essence of "Unbelievable Truth", best described in the words of its drummer Nigel Powell: “There’s just something about when the three of us make music at the same time – it’s greater than the sum of its parts in ways that I can’t describe.”