White Lies ‘Ritual’ // First Listen

White Lies
‘Ritual’
(Fiction)

When White Lies said to The Fly, for an In The Studio piece back in July, that the follow-up to their debut was “a lot more morbid and depressing than the first one,” we weren’t sure we were ready to hear it. The main themes running through ‘To Lose My Life’ – the clue’s in the title – were about as uplifting as a night in watching Buried with Leonard Cohen, but White Lies established a knack of making the morose sound monumental. New album ‘Ritual’ – out in Jan – sees them perfect that fine art. Sure, at the centre of their second record lies some hefty subject matter about love, life and, well, the point of EVERYTHING, but it’s shrouded in such dramatic euphoria and a truckload of sensory-squatting melodies that make it a stunningly gripping listen. In a track-by-track guide, Niall Doherty finds the trio on the sort of form that’ll put those Editors-lite accusations in a six-feet-under coffin once’n’for all…

‘Is Love’
Beginning with a rusty, industrial stomp, ‘Is Love’ is all epic elegance. “She stares into the mirror/Youth fading with the sun,” goes Harry McVeigh’s melancholic croon as synths and electro-harps creak into life around him. The first chorus – “she says the only thing I’ve ever found/That’s greater than it always sounds/Is love” – gives way to a bass-heavy second verse groove that wouldn’t sound out of place on U2’s ‘Zooropa’. Guitars explode as the song slides into a stadium-sized chorus proper – you get the impression most of the stuff on here will be stadium-sized. The dense grit of Alan Moulder’s production seems to have laid the stepping stones for White Lies to sound as big as their ambition is skyscraping. A jaw-dropping opener.

‘Strangers’
The straight-arrowed epic-rock of ‘Strangers’ ensures ‘Ritual’ continues the adrenaline’d vein of its opener. “I’ve got a sense of urgency/I’ve gotta make this happen/No stone unturned,” sings McVeigh over chugging riffs and rolling drums before the ‘Strangers’ ginormo hook takes the song by the scruff of the neck and marches it towards the end, which, after one final holler of the chorus, comes screechingly sudden.

‘Streetlights’
A spiky, jagged collision of bass and synth introduces the menacing march of ‘Streetlights’. A clatter of echoing guitars give way to the chorus, an exasperated McVeigh singing, “Can anybody hear me/Is anybody out there?/Not a soul in the streetlights” over a syncopated, urgent beat. Not as immediate as the opener, ‘Streetlights’ strength lies in its brilliance creeping slowly – this isn’t strictly my First Listen – and by the fourth time of listening, the desolate grandeur of its chorus hits home dramatically.

‘Bigger Than Us’
A throbbing electro thump kicks off ‘Bigger Than Us’, again the production impossible to see to the bottom of – subtle soundscape etched over subtle soundscape, a driving, accelerating drumbeat behind McVeigh’s booming baritone. There’s nothing subtle about ‘Bigger Than Us’’ gargantuan chorus, though – it’s as melodically big and riff-heavy as anything they’ve ever done, guitars drenched in fuzz and a hook catchy enough to headline Glasto by itself.

‘Peace & Quiet’
The stark, shimmering synths and lo-fi electro beat at the beginning of ‘Peace & Quiet’ are as stripped-down as anything on ‘Ritual’. Soon, more synths join in, tip-toeing around McVeigh’s lone vocals. Then comes the chorus, a soulful choir of voices pleading “I feel this great pressure coming down on me…” Like everything else so far, guitars are used sparingly, but make their presence felt. ‘Peace & Quiet’ is an album track, for sure, but one that underlines the intricately-weaved songcraft at the heart of White Lies’ weaponry.

‘Holy Ghost’
The irascible, distorto-thrum of ‘Holy Ghost’ is the heaviest thing on ‘Ritual’, its industrial – yep, that word again – Depeche Mode-y throb one of the best things they’ve done, and as far from the likes of ‘Death’ as it gets. “Maybe some day I can move like you/I’m not looking for a holy ghost,” goes the fevered, fuzzy chorus before the righteous, juddering outro, where synths, robotic harmonies and a surging drumbeat swirl around each other ‘til the whole thing implodes.

‘Turn The Bells’
When describing ‘Turn The Bells’ to The Fly in the summer, White Lies bassist and lyricist Charles Cave said that “it’s anything is more Nine Inch Nails, then that one is quite industrial with a half-time feel to it.” Indeed, this song especially sums up the industrial grit at the heart of ‘Ritual’, funereal keyboards and a caustic, creeping rhythm section at its centre. If that makes it sound rather dirgey – which it is, excellently so – then the chorus sends it skywards in a slo-mo blast of swirling harmonies and McVeigh’s achingly downbeat vocals. Stunning.

‘The Power & The Glory’
This, together with ‘Turn The Bells’, is the centrepiece of ‘Ritual’. Not so much a song as a series of big fuggin’ choruses, ‘The Power & The Glory’ – dodgy title alert aside – begins with a forlorn vocal against a backdrop of glacial synths. Just as it appears it’s about to get going, though, it takes an electronica sidestep, all of a sudden resembling the austere electro of Nine Inch Nails’ ‘The Fragile’. “I gave you back your power/I gave you back your glory” goes the singalong coda at the middle of it as it builds momentum, via a series of synthy twists’n’turns, towards its Killers-esque climax. Utterly beguiling.

‘Bad Love’
A slow, descending groove drives ‘Bad Love’’s crumpled anguish, its chorus once again making use of the guitar pedal marked MASSIVE. Again, there’s a Killers resemblance in its mass-crowd baiting “If I’m guilty of anything/It’s loving you too much…” chorus.

‘Come Down’
Beginning with claustrophobic beats and chiming, dramatic pianos, ‘Come Down’ is in the same vein as ‘Peace & Quiet’ and ‘The Power & The Glory’, slow-building and suspenseful towards an expertly-executed outro. Like on ‘Peace & Quiet’, McVeigh’s baritone is replaced with choir of voices, falsettos gliding over Blade Runner atmospherics, an exhilaratingly epic second album ending on the sound of ‘Come Down’‘s laser synths winding down.

‘Ritual’ will be reviewed in a future issue of The Fly.