Brian: “This process of renewal, of looking for something new, is imperative for me, I really don't want to be bored with Placebo. You have to really push yourself to find different methods, challenging situations, things to say that you find important, to basically do something that feeds you, because without that self-feeding, why would you do that? I would ask myself that question all the time” (France Info, March 30th 2022).
📍 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩: Placebo once did something similar with “Infra-Red” from the album “Meds” when Brian wrote the lyrics of the song backwards. He admitted that because of that he first had no idea what “Infra-Red” was about. “I started with the last line and worked my way to the first. I’d never done that before. So it wasn’t until I got to the first line that I was able to take a step back and understand what it was about” (Suicide Girls, May 14th 2006).
Different to the previous albums Brian and Stefan also started to work on “Never let me go” without a drummer. “We wanted to make an album without drums and just do it with a drum machine and that has influenced the process a little bit. [...] And just having those beginnings a little bit different from the previous records, the result is very different from all the last records. I don't know, but it was important to incite to make the journey a little bit different”, Stefan explained in an interview with Alfa 91,3 FM Mexico. But in the end they even had two drummers instead of none at all: Matt Lunn, who is a touring member of the band and first joined them in 2004, and Pietro Garrone of Husky Loops.
Brian said that “Sad White Reggae” was written during a period of insomnia. In the middle of the night he decided to play something by The Police but ended up writing his own song (see quotes below). He stated that the title is a private joke for him. The song includes references to Jane Birkin, Samye Ling and Lama Yeshe, Dundee and Brian's mother.
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| Photo credit: Matej Grgić |
Explanation: The military wanted to use the area for target practice. – The petition was successful and the place was safe in the end.
📍𝗝𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻 is an English-French singer and actress who Brian admires. She is best known for her releationship with Serge Gainsbourg and their scandalous duet “Je t'aime moi non plus” which Brian and Asia Argento covered for Dimitri Tikovoi's music project Trash Palace in 2002. Two years later Brian recorded a song called “Smile” with Birkin, it was released on her album “Rendez-vous”.
📍 “Sad White Reggae” is not the first song that has a 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 in the lyrics. There's also “Blue American” from the 2000 album “Black market music”. Amongst others it include the line “I wrote this novel just for Mom / For all the mommy things she's done”.
📍 𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗲 is a coastal city in Scotland where Brian partly grew up. Despite the fact that he had to move a lot with his family when he was young he also once said that if he were to have some patriotic feelings it would be for this place.
“Sad White Reggae” is part of the current tour. The shared video was recorded at Bearded Theory's Spring Gathering festival on May 27th 2022. This song is one of my absolute favorites on the new album and also live.
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| Photo credit: Matej Grgić |
📢 "A lot of these songs were written during periods of insomnia and 'Sad White Reggae' is one of them. It's about three o'clock in the morning. Can't sleep. And for some reason I decided I was going to work out how to play Roxanne by The Police, and I couldn't and I ended up writing this song instead. And because I was trying to copy The Police I called it, 'Sad White Reggae' because that's essentially what the first two Police albums is. It's just 'Sad White Reggae', so it's a little in-joke for me, private joke, which kind of makes its way onto the album. That's my song for Scotland. I think Dundee is going to give me the key to the city when this record comes out. I managed to get Jane Birkin, Lama Yeshe, and my mum into the same song and Dundee. "
(Maniacs, March 25th 2022)
📌 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗡 “𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗘 𝗚𝗢” 📌
📢 “I wanted to express something visceral, something very human. I just hope that other people will understand it and that it will move them. I hope that I’ve been somewhat courageous with this record so that it might inspire courage in others. It might help them stand up for what they believe in. That’s all. That’s what music did for me.”
(The Guardian, November 12th 2021)
𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘰 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 (𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘫𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰) 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦.
📢 “For me, it was also about trying to create discomfort. My friend and mentor David Bowie always used to say `if you're feeling comfortable, you're doing it wrong.’”
(Vice Magazine, January 17th 2022)
📢 “I wanted to do something that had a certain brutality to it, either sonically or lyrically.”
(Rolling Stone UK, February 1st 2022)
📢 “It is our “Fuck you record”, quite right. It is by far the most angriest and most upset we ever did . And it is very focused in its vexation and anger. Because of my lifestyle change I got much more clarity as in former times. The drugs no longer stand in the way of my attitude. I’m more precise and concrete in these songs. I communicate big ideas in a few words as possible.“
(SLAM Issue 121, April 2022)
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| Photo credit: Matej Grgić |
I got the man on the way
I wanna sleep on the way down
So many miles away
I used to dance in a fountain
I got the man on the way
Measure for measure
So many miles away
Drunk on a mountain
I got a message for Jane
Float on a feather
I hope the kids are okay
Now for the kicker
I'm stuck on a train
Heading for Scotland
They took my mom away
Illuminati
And I'm thin as rake
I'm no longer fleshy
I'll go to Samye Ling
See Lama Yeshe
Where the skies are grey
And the skies are cloudy
And every river flows
Back to Dundee
I won't give into the pain
I'll smile in the mirror
There's no one else to blame
Collapse into never, collapse into never
Collapse into never, collapse into never
Collapse into never, collapse into never
Collapse into never, collapse into never
Collapse into never, collapse into never
Collapse into never, collapse into never
Collapse into never, collapse into never
Post by Silke
