🔍 𝐁ℝ𝕀𝔸ℕ 𝐌𝕆𝕃𝕂𝕆 𝔸𝕊 𝐏𝕊𝕐ℂℍ𝕆𝕊𝕐ℕ𝕋ℍ𝔼𝕋𝕀ℂ 𝐌𝕆𝔻𝔼𝕃 𝕆𝔽 𝐌𝔸ℕ 🔎

"𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞, 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲, 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞." ▪𝘽𝙍𝙄𝘼𝙉 𝙈𝙊𝙇𝙆𝙊▪

Photo credit: Joseph Llanes

🟪 𝑻𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚'𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏'𝒔 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕, 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒔. The text was written in 2011 after the autor read a quote by Brian from the 𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒏 era. Battle for The Sun is described by most critics as a brighter and more optimistic album. To which critics Brian and Stefan have added nuance:

"𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘮. 𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦."
✔️ 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚕𝚔𝚘 - 𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚢 - 𝟸00𝟿


"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘰'𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.”
✔️ 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚏𝚊𝚗 𝙾𝚕𝚜𝚍𝚊𝚕 - 𝙲𝚕𝚒𝚌 𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 - 𝙰𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚕 𝟸00𝟿


🟪 Beyond the psychological aspect of the text, it is also the vision of a fan who, like many of us, considers 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 in her life, a model, allowing her to understand and know herself better.

🟪 But before you start reading, a short explanation of what psychosynthesis is about.

Photo credit: Moritz Hagen

◾◾ 𝐴 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑡. 𝑃𝑠𝑦𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑦𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑖𝑚𝑠 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝐼𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑠𝑦𝑐ℎ𝑒.

𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑦𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑠 ( 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠), 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦/𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑘. 𝐼𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦, 𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦. ◾◾

I wish you a very good time in reading it ✨


🔷 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙙𝙚𝙡, 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙈𝙤𝙡𝙠𝙤. 🔷

🔹 I’m a huge fan of Placebo and I’m a member of the Institute of Psychosynthesis, a branch of Human Psychology, founded by Roberto Assagioli in 1926. I’m studying to be a counselor.

🔹 Since the beginning of their careers I’ve loved the music of the band and thought that somehow 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 “𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑴𝒂𝒏”. Very briefly 𝑃𝑠𝑦𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑦𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙, 𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙, 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙. The synthesis occurs around a personal center, the conscious ego, the “I”, so that it is possible a formation or reconstruction of a personality around this center, through the correct use of the will.

𝐼𝑛 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠, 𝑎 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠/ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑠/ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝑔𝑜𝑎𝑙, 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒, 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.

Photo credit: Franck Juery

🔹 But what is the best way to take the control of the sides if not giving them a voice, listening to them, telling of them, singing of them, expressing them, looking at them as you would be another person, experiencing a kind of empathy for them, finally accepting them and integrating them ?

🔹 Watching the documentary in the new Placebo dvd “𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔” that intuition about Brian grew even more inside me. When I heard him say the words:

“…𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤, 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲, 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲, 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥-𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐲….”

….suddenly I realized I was the same, the reason I love him so much is that we both pursuit to find the truth in ourselves.

So I started to write this article…

🔹 𝐼’𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑢𝑧𝑧𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑏𝑢𝑚, 𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒏, 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑏𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐.

🔹 This may also be true, but I think Brian and Stefan don’t like to hear the thing. And they surely are right, because saying that the last Placebo album is more beautiful because it is more optimistic is like saying depressed, lonely, sad, abused people can produce only ugly stuff, or even they haven’t the right to share their lives and their feelings because they are pessimistic then ugly. They better remain silent to not bother happy people. There is beauty in everything and I personally think the reason for the last album being better is because Placebo are growing as artists and human beings. And let me say that the literature is filled with pessimistic masterpieces (think of novels and poetries written at the war’s periods) and to be optimistic doesn’t assure an artist to make a beautiful work.

Photo credit: Scarlet Page

🔹 Once, when my daughter was only six, I let her listen to 𝑴𝒆𝒅𝒔. After only a minute she looked at me and said: ”Mum, I’m sorry for you, you are a loser.“ This really left me dazed. She barely knew English so I thought she had learnt that English word “looser” from some Hanna Montana’s stuff she was used to watching.

Saying that sad, depressed, stuck people are losers and that happy, combative, self confident people are winners is not completely wrong, but… 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑦 ℎ𝑖𝑠/ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒??.

I think it’s part of some culture, which starting from the basic statement that optimism is the foundation for victory, which I agree with, ends with the dangerous statement that everything sad, or depressing, ugly, painful has to be referred to as losers.

𝑫𝒆𝒏𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. 𝑰𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒏, 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔, 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆.

𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒓, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 !

🔹 I can understand that at the beginning of his career Brian’s sides which mostly urged to be expressed were the most suffering, the angriest, the most repressed.

If you grew up as an abused or alienated child you’ll likely feel stuck in a bad mental frame. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒, ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒. That is, you can turn more optimistic.

All the work Brian does on himself, trying to understand the emotions which are troubling inside of him “𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥-𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐲” as he says, is likely similar to the work that psychosynthesis suggests.

🔹 By listening to his own feelings, discovering every side of his personality and by giving them a voice, by accepting them with the tenderness of a mother, he managed to have the control of them, to synthesize the opposites in order to walk together towards a common goal, his success, that is the full expression of his potential as artist and as human being.

Brian has managed to deal with the conflict of personalities and the unmet needs he experienced in his youth.

Photo credit: Laetizia Forget

🔹 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛’𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠. Brian didn’t choose to be pessimistic to look cooler. Depending on his past experiences, since as he referred he grew up as an alienated child, he was likely to reach the age of twenty feeling a pessimistic, angry and sad young man. This doesn’t mean a depressed person doesn’t have the right to share his pain and his negative vision of life, because 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑛𝑒’𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠. Again he doesn’t do that to look cooler, but because he needs to share to be accepted. 𝑶𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆. 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.

Brian never chose to be pessimistic. He just was like that because his heart was hurt and filled with anger. He felt a loser, but never meant to be a loser forever, for in fact all their albums are a search for a way out. And he found it ! So he’s a winner, because he felt a loser but at some point he chose to be a winner.

For that reason I disagree with that clinical psychologist who told him once, as Brian says in the documentary, “𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲.”

🔹 This sounds quite a weird thing to say from that psychologist because who can be totally happy forever ? 𝑨𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒔. He has some needs, like to receive recognition, to be accepted, to be considered as any other human being, to be loved.

🔹 Once he gets respect, appreciation, and he feels reworded and accepted for what he is, once he learns to cope with music industry’s pressures, the press’s attacks, the rock’ n’ roll lifestyle’s false rules, once he gets love from his son, friends and fans, once he gets more freedom through the money honestly gained, once he learnt to cope with his latent sides and the self-sabotage, why shouldn’t he feel happy ?

🔹 As artist he may be unrest as sitting on a volcano, but this is the foundation for creativity and the urge to always set new goals in life, that is great !

So Brian and Stefan, go on ! We love you !
✔️ 𝙸𝚕 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐 𝚍𝚒 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚊 𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚒 - 𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟹, 𝟸0𝟷𝟷

Post by Laetitia

✨𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 𝗢𝗡 𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗦✨

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 '𝑴𝒆𝒅𝒔' 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒆”(Brian Molko, Les Inrockuptibles, 2009)

I think we all know that Placebo's fifth studio album “Meds” (2006) marked a turning point in their career. Things had gone downhill for quite a while, there was a lot of drug use and alcohol involved before and during the production of the record. The friendship between Brian, Stefan and Steve Hewitt had become a dysfunctional working alliance. The world tour that followed the release of “Meds” was the death knell for the triangle, and as result Steve had to leave the band. But that's not the topic of this post.

Today we will have a closer look at what Brian and Stefan said about “Meds” from shortly before its release on March 13th 2006 until the follow-up album “Battle for the sun” came out in 2009.

Photo credit unknown

📌 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐅𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐍 “𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐒” 📌
📢 “We went to the studio with electronic ideas, with hip hop influences, but what was finally recorded is completely different! I dunno what happenned, but we immediately started with simplicity… Instead of doing something very cerebral, we did something instantaneous. A return to Placebo’s roots.“
(Brian, Rock Magazine, December 2005)

𝘛𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘪, 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘳?
📢 “Yes, it is! We had an argument the first week, the kind of « Why do you treat me this way? I’m your friend! » But after the first week, it became very easy. Since the clash was ended, we take the roles established between producer and artists, then it become really easy because no one is afraid of hurt the ego of the other.“
(Brian, Rock Magazine, December 2005)

📢 “When we started we had twenty songs for the album, and from there, by an elimination process, we left the ones included in the album. Fortunately, our record label gave us the freedom to work at our own pace, contrary to the release of the singles compillation. With 'Meds' we had more freedom regarding time and preparation, and more in things such as releasing dates and other things, because the six week previous to the album's release are the hardest for us because we sometimes have to be in different cities in the same day.“
(Brian, Scars, 2006)

📢 “While I was writing the songs, I was interested in what the people in the modern world need to survive the day and what they use as medication. The meds could be religion, love or a variety of medication that allows them emotional survival… I’m talking about those kinds of meds.“
(Brian, OK!, 2006)

📢 “The album is bizarre, we let the pieces obtain what they wanted, what they needed. The album will be different to what we’ve been able to do, but you’ll still be able to recognise our sound: melodic, fast, punky in places and depressing in others. The fans should feel comfortable with it, while being surprised… hopefully!“
(Stefan, Rock Magazine, January 2#meds

Photo credit unknown

🎬 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 – 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟲
🎵 https://bit.ly/3Drkuc7 🎵

📢 “I think it kinda makes sense, you know. All the people who live and inhabit the songs in the album are under some form of anaesthetic, whether it's chemical, emotional or spiritual. And I think during the song writing process, it sort of interested me - the different form of anaesthetic that people use in order to get through the day, to survive. I suppose this album to a certain degree explores that.“
(Brian, Bangkok Post, March 1st 2006)

📢 ”When I started working on this record, I only had two subjects to write about: love and addiction. I don't want to follow the path of Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix or Kurt Cobain. Or even worse: Pete Doherty. I've also always had a problem with the glorification of addicted rock stars. A junkie in the gutter is a junkie in the gutter. But I can't deny it: I had also taken that dead-end road - one day I realised there was a chance I might be the next rock casualty.”
(Brian, Humo, March 2006)

📢 “I think the group’s image has evolved a bit over the years. Placebo became something slightly obscure, a bit too intelligent, a band with a dark and simultaneously complex side. This return to the roots was necessary. ... We’ll soon see what the media makes of this album. But nobody will be able to say that this album was made with this or that goal, that it’s commercial or something else. It’s just a breath of fresh air, and most importantly, an album that feels like us.“
(Brian, Rock Sound, March 2006)

📢 “Well, actually, I think this is probably our darkest, most tortured record. But I think there's a freshness and an immediacy and a directness about it sonically that probably makes it a bit more accessible. I think in the past we've kind of been wilfully obscured or purposefully oblique in our approach, and now we've stripped everything down and returned to the core or the essence of this band, which is a tight, urgent rock band.“
(Brian, Boyz, April 2006)

📢 ”There wasn’t a generational gap or a cultural gap between us [Dimitri Tikovoi]. In fact, we were born on the same day of the same year so we were very good friends before we started working on this record. He realized that we’d found a comfort zone which was Vince’s synthesizers. He wanted to pull us out of that comfort zone and make us stare at ourselves in the mirror to make us realize that in essence we are a rock band.”
(Brian, Suicide Girls, May 14th 2006)

📢 "I mean, 'Meds' is an album about anesthesia and addiction. It's an album that I don't think we could have made five, six, seven years ago, simply because the negative effects of the rock lifestyle weren't as apparent then, y'know? Perhaps we were too young.”
(Brian, Sydney Morning Herald, September 8th 2006)

Photo credit:  Benni Valsson

📢 ”I think with 'Meds' we explored personal human pain, it was quite under the microscope and so, it is really hard to get any darker and bleaker than 'Meds'.”
(Stefan, Clic Music, April 2009)

📢 "Now i can look at it from a distance, 'Meds' was a bit of a bleek/pale record in which you'd find a lot of pain and hardly any hope. Now i wanted to make something with a lot of light and neon. I believe in that, that is my state of mind at the moment. At the time i also believed in 'Meds', but you have to be alert/carefull that you don't lose yourself in the darkness."
(Brian, De Limburger, May 28th 2009)

📢 “'Meds' sounded claustrophobic, without a sparkle of hope. The album felt like a grainy black and white film.“
(Brian, De Standaat, May 30th 2009)

📢 “If you look back at our last album 'Meds', it sort of looks like a black and white grainy film. This time we wanted to make something in 17mm technicolour wide screen.“
(Brian, OK! Magazine Australia, June 2009)

📢 “The recording of 'Meds' was a veritable orgy of drugs and abuse. This was the way we draped ourselves in the veil of denial, refusing to see that Placebo was not doing well ... I was totally addicted to drugs and alcohol, I went to a clinic to heal (silence). Four days after I left the hospital, I went on tour. In solidarity, Stefan has also stopped to drink, it was the first time we were touring sober, it was terrifying [...]”.
(Brian, Les Inrockuptibles, May 26th 2009)

📢 ”We left the studio without pride, disunited, washed out. But there was a tour to achieve, then we marched to the front lines, as if nothing had happened. I hoped it would heal the wounds: it bruised them. For two years on the road, I really felt alone.”
(Brian, Les Inrockuptibles, May 26th 2009)

Post by Silke

♦️𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐘: 𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐃 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄♦️

"𝙒𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙬𝙚'𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩, 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙫𝙪𝙡𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙗𝙪𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚."
(Brian Molko, Yahoo Music, September 16th 2013)

Photo credit: album cover, Joseph Llanes (4), edit by Silke

Today is the 🔺𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐘🔺 of Placebo's seventh studio album “𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐃 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄”, it was released eight years ago on September 13th 2013. The limited edition includes a DVD with eight live versions of the songs.

The work on “Loud like love” kinda started by accident. The band were in the studio to record singles, but they were having such a good time and liked the producer, so they thought they just should keep going. Actually some of the songs on the album were originally written by Brian for a possible solo album, but he contributed them to the new Placebo album.
“Loud like love” was recorded at RAK Studios in London and produced by Adam Noble. It reached no. 13 in the UK Albums Chart.
Three singles were released from the album: “Too many friends”, “Loud like love” and “A million little pieces”.

The release of the record was promoted with a live stream. “Loud like love TV“ was a world premiere, because it was the first time ever that a band has produced, curated and streamed a global live TV show. The event was broadcasted from YouTube Space London on 16th September 2013 and surprised the fans with new and exclusive content, interviews, an extensive question and answer session with all band members and interesting facts about the collaborators behind the album.

🎥 𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗩
https://bit.ly/2UJ2Ks1

Screenshot from Loud like love TV

The album consists of ten songs, about half of them were originally written for a solo project that Brian wanted to do at that time.
”The record is called 'Loud like love' but it doesn’t have ten love songs on it: this is Placebo World so of course we’re going to explore the more dark recesses of emotion – obsession, jealousy, alienation, heartbreak, abandon – and even the absence of love and the effect that has on a human being”, he explained the album in an interview with The Music in September 2013.
In another interview Brian said that he sees “Loud like love” as a collection of ten short stories with a unifying theme that approaches the subject from ten different angles (Hunger, August 2013). Brian and Stefan both stated several times that they were very proud of the album and that they think it is their most honest and vulnerable release to date.

💿 𝗕𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗨𝗡 – 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠

01. Loud like love https://bit.ly/2ycaPcY 🎵
02. Scene of the crime https://bit.ly/3abYLa1 🎵
03. Too many friends https://bit.ly/3cecJc2 🎵
04. Hold on to me https://bit.ly/3b3Ei7v 🎵
05. Rob the bank https://bit.ly/2JYGOjB 🎵
06. A million little pieces https://bit.ly/2XzBlHZ 🎵
07. Exit wounds https://bit.ly/2JZQSsH 🎵
08. Purify https://bit.ly/34tLvLO 🎵
09. Begin the end https://bit.ly/33FFaN1 🎵
10. Bosco https://bit.ly/2V4ucxW 🎵

The Chinese version of the album swaps out “Rob the bank“ with “Pity party (of one)“
– Pity party (of one) https://bit.ly/3b5fZpY 🎵

Photo credit: Heiko Laschitzki

📌 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗡 “𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘“ 📌
 📢 "'Loud like love' is very eclectic and textured and layered. I think it's more varied and more adventurous. We took a lot more risks with this record. In terms of the emotions in the lyrics I think it's our most honest and vulnerable album to date.''
(Bangkok Post, August 18th 2013)

📢 “The album explores how love can be violent, brutal and disorientating, and how the absence of it can lead people to behave in quite extreme ways. It also deals with jealousy, obsession, heartbreak and how addiction can tear relationships apart. So, it’s an album about people and the way that they interact with each other – or fail to.“
(Hunger, August 8th 2013)

📢 ”It is love, but this being Placebo World, it’s not gonna be a collection of love songs in Michael Bublé-style. My experience with love, over the past 20 years, is what I’ve pulled on to write these novellas or small fictions. It hasn’t always been about the initial rush of infatuation and that feeling of elation and euphoria that comes with falling in love. Of course, I’ve experienced that and it’s been quite mind-blowing, but sometimes you could fall in love with somebody who doesn’t know you exist or doesn’t see you that way, or doesn’t even find you attractive, and that can be quite heartbreaking. You can force somebody to leave – inadvertently – out of selfishness or behaviour. Often, the absence of love is quite loud... as in the echo or the reverb of an empty cave, the sound of silence, or the sound of your own breathing. So the album kind of deals with the transgressive love in the second track [“Scene of the Crime”], and “Too Many Friends” is about feeling disconnected and not finding the satisfaction, the fulfilment that you need from genuine human contact, through a plethora of virtual friendships. “Rob the Bank” is not about financial crisis: It’s about obsession and jealousy, very carnal, primal obsession and jealousy.”

(Pure Volume, September 12th 2013)

📢 "We think we've made our most honest, direct, and vulnerable album to date. It's a byproduct of becoming very comfortable with who we are. I think we spent a lot of the past 20 years experimenting and trying to stretch our sound in lots of different directions. Each album has a different tone to it. This album brings all of that together. It showcases what we do best, which is emotional music that's very human and fragile. It's not necessarily about bombast, although there are powerful moments. But it's very much about tenderness."
(Yahoo Music, September 16th 2013)

📢 ”When you think of the first song “Loud like love” being perhaps the first initial euphoric rushes of infatuation, and innocent discovery and youthful abandon, to “Scene of the Crime” being the first moment of transgression, to all the way through to the second-to-last song, which is “Begin The End,” which is the point in a relationship when you realize that you’re still in it, but you’ve passed the tipping point, that you know it’s over even though it’s not physically over yet. And then to “Bosco” which is kind of an apology and a search for redemption. I find that really interesting too, that it could be 10 songs about ten different relationships — and also the whole album could be seen as one, at different stages.”
(Vanyaland, October 18th 2013)

📢 ”I’m really, really proud of how bare this record in terms of what it’s expressing emotionally. We really let the listener into who we are, what our soul looks like, through these songs. We’re not hiding behind anything anymore.”
(Vanyaland, October 18th 2013)

📢 ”Everything on the record I think is very, very much inspired by real events and real emotions. The characters in these songs are created by us to convey an emotion. This album might be considered as a collection of short stories with a common theme, explored in its deepest and darkest recesses, but also celebrated. We didn’t want to do something bleak or gloomy and completely hopeless, but unfortunately, without talking about broken hearts or how people manipulate or abuse each other in relationships, you’re not really giving a full picture, I think.”
(RSI Rete Tre, 26 October 2013)

Photo credit: Heiko Laschitzki,

📌 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗙𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗡 “𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘” 📌
📢 “It’s all killer, no filler. It’s really hard to describe a record but I think it still sounds like Placebo. It’s maybe heavier and more layered – more pop in places, darker in places, lighter in places. Personally, it’s the album I feel like Placebo should have made and it feels like the most complete body of work to me. So, it’s very hard to describe but it’s an exciting record.“
(Hunger, August 8th 2013)

📢 ”There are a lot of emotions and colour in this record. It’s both emotional and exciting at the same time.”
(The Straits Times, August 20th 2013)

📢 ”The only way I can react to this record is by a general feeling since I can’t analyse it. I felt that this is the record that I’ve always heard in my head for what a Placebo record should sound like. This is the most successful transfer of idea to record so for me I truly feel it’s our best record.”

(Stefan, Bandwagon, August 2013)

📢 ”Equally, the title track ‘Loud like love’, was written at the same time as ‘Bosco’, and they became sort of the bookends for the album. ‘Loud like love’ talks about the origins of love. I think that’s a very interesting concept because it’s an emotion we can’t touch but it’s so real and different for everyone. I relate to certain songs because of my own relationships and problems that I’ve had but I also see certain songs and I go “Jesus! Brian, have you been to that place? That’s a f*ckng dark place.” And he’s like “yeah haven’t you?” No, not that dark.”
(Hanger, September 4th 2013)

Post by Silke