💫💙⭐"𝐈'𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐀 𝐋𝐎𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐒𝐘𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂 𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓"⭐💙💫

📍𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐 has been up since 5am doing interview after interview after interview. He has appeared on the 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍 𝟒 breakfast programme, 𝑹𝑰:𝑺𝑬 and has had fifteen different journalists sit before him in a row, most likely repeating the same questions. In less than 24 hours he has two live performances; one on 𝑻𝒐𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒐𝒑𝒔 and the other on the 𝑱𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒘.

So, you can imagine my trepidation at being the last journo to interview 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 after such a long and boring day. I presumed he would be cranky and disinterested in my questions, and with good reason. However, 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 is disarmingly friendly and charming, chatting in an open and informal way to me. He always makes eye contact when talking and his grey/blue eyes are exceptionally captivating. The man looks unfairly good considering he has been up for a long time. So, what must it be like sitting through constant interviews and being expected to be pleasant all day?
🎤“𝑻𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆: '𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆… 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏'. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒔, 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒚. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒃𝒚 ‘𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕’ 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚.”

Photo credit: JB Mondino

𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 have bounced back into the limelight with their fourth album, ‘𝑺𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔’ which was produced by 𝑱𝒊𝒎 𝑨𝒃𝒃𝒊𝒔𝒔, who has worked with both 𝑫𝑱 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘 and 𝑼𝑵𝑲𝑳𝑬 respectively. With this in mind you can expect an album full of different flavours and experimentation, from the beautiful 𝑷𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑭𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒅-𝒆𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒆 ballad, ‘𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑵𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔’ to electroclash inspired ‘𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒂𝒊𝒏’.
🎤“𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑱𝒊𝒎 𝑨𝒃𝒃𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 – 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒔. 𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒂 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒐, 𝒘𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆, 𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔. 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒋𝒊𝒈𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒑𝒖𝒛𝒛𝒍𝒆.”

Which is an excellent way to describe ‘𝑺𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔’ with its deep and personal lyrics. The title track includes the epitaph-like line “𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒆”, which tells the story of true soulmates meeting in different lifetimes. ‘𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕’ is on the other end of the emotional scale, portraying the morning after a one night stand when one person wants more: “𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 / 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒖𝒔”. One can only imagine that there must be a plus side to airing your dirty laundry in public.
🎤“𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰’𝒎 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕,” laughs 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏. “𝑰 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄, 𝒔𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒕. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒖𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒄. 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆.”

Photo credit:  Jesus Aparicio

Surely it must be invasive having strangers (i.e. journalists) constantly grill you about your lyrics as a key to your personal life?
🎤“𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑰’𝒎 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄. 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉. 𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒖𝒙𝒖𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐, 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎. 𝑰 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝑰 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕. 𝑰 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕.”

💙 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 - 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 (𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨)
https://bit.ly/3bRdoWg 🎶

But what has driven 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐 to write such creative lyrics? Are there any significant moments in his life or people that have inspired him?
🎤“𝑺𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎 ['𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑰’𝒎 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈'] 𝒐𝒏𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑪𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚. 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑰’𝒎 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉. 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 ‘𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑰’𝒎 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈’, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏. 𝑰 𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒚𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈.”

Recently, 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 completed a few warm-up shows in smaller venues than they usually play, airing the new material before the big 𝑬𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒏 tour in April. Each gig was warmly received and 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏, 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒇𝒂𝒏 and 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆 looked the happiest and relaxed they had in a long time. Is this heralding a new dawn for 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 – being as content as 𝑩𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏 but without the band change?
🎤“𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. 𝑰 𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑺𝑼𝑴 𝟒𝟏 𝒐𝒓 𝑨𝒗𝒓𝒊𝒍 𝑳𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓. 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒙𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒖𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔.”

Photo credit: David Willis

It is quite hard to believe that the articulate and sensible man sitting opposite me had a name for being a difficult interviewee and once left “𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚” in 1998 (“𝑨 𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆”). 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 really did have quite a reputation for drugs, sex and general misbehaviour, 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 often described as a ‘𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒈-𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒙 𝒅𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒇’. Was this an unfair portrayal or an accurate summary of that time?
🎤“𝑰𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅: ‘𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒔𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒙’ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒇. 𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 ‘𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒔𝒎’ 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝟐𝟐 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚, 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒃𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒉𝒐𝒍, 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒖𝒑! 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝟐𝟎𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝒊𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄. 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒅𝒐, 𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒚𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔.”

𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 certainly seem a lot more chilled out now, they don’t seem to be in a rush to try everything, experience everything. Maybe, because there’s not much left for them to experience now except settling down and continuing to enjoy their music.
🎤“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑷𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒚: 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉 – 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑰 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 – 𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.”

It would appear that a more mature 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 has emerged from the gritty leftovers of the 90s. ‘𝑺𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔’ serves to represent that, justifying everything 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 has said. 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏, himself, has proved to be an honest and thoughtful person, thinking each question I ask over thoroughly to give me the best answer he can, often exploring himself through the question. So, 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 and the rest of the band, the hard work done, must be ready to sit back and watch the album do its thing.
🎤“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒃𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒕. 𝑶𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒙.”

With this in mind, 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 can now go and relax with a well earned drink, safe in the knowledge that 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 have achieved No. 12 in the 𝑼𝑲 𝑻𝒐𝒑 40 and, bizarrely, No.1 in the 𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒆 charts, with their first single from the new album, ‘𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑬𝒏𝒅’.
▪️𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑜, 𝐷𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐𝒉 𝟐𝟓𝑡𝒉, 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟑.
✒️ 𝚋𝚢 𝚁𝚎𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚊𝚑 𝙿𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚎

Photo credit: Perou

⭐𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, this afternoon I wanted to take you back to the time of 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐's "𝑺𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔" album with this great interview where 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐 talks about his creative songwriting process - which I don't know about you guys, but I enjoy a lot when 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 talks about how these beautiful songs were born - and also he reflects on the band's crazy past and how they became a more mature band. 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 was wondering if people were still into the real thing, so if I may, I want to ask you soulmates, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮?
Before I say goodbye for today, I want to share with you the two live performances mentioned at the beginning of the interview.

🎥 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐝 - 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐎𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐬 🎼
https://bit.ly/3fbfodL

🎥 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟑 (𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 + 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐝) 🎼
https://bit.ly/3sFFtod

Post by Rita

🎉⭐️𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝟏𝟗𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐘⭐️🎉

🌠𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔…🌠

The third single from Placebo’s fourth studio album 𝐒𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬, was released on this day, September 15th, back in 2003.
It reached no. 27 in the UK Singles Chart.
The single was released as CD, DVD and 7” vinyl.

Photo credit: Placebo single artwork; Franck Courtès, 2003; screenshot from the video / edit by Olga

🔹𝐂𝐃🔹
Special needs Edit
English Summer Rain (Freelance Hellraiser Mix)
Plasticine (Lounge Version)

🔹𝐃𝐕𝐃🔹
Special Needs Video
Making of the Video
Special Needs (Album Version)
The Bitter End (Junior Sanchez Mix)

🔹𝟕" 𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐲𝐥🔹
Special Needs
English Summer Rain (Freelance Hellraiser Mix)


⭐️Sleeve photography and art direction was done by 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒂 𝑩𝒆𝒓𝒈.
📢As 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 said to 𝑅𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑, the lyrics are a “tale of a celebrity has-been told from a wheelchair. Someone reminiscing how the shoe is on the other foot and worrying that they’ll be written out of their ex’s biography.”
There’s a mix of deeply private and professional artistic meaning, as 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 continued explaining.
📢“When you’re releasing your first couple of records you do think that you’re invincible. As a young artist there’s always this voice in the back of your head telling you you’re shit, that you’re not as good as the next guy. By the time you get to your fourth album that voice has changed. You know you can’t be shit because you’ve just sold X amount of records, but now it’s telling you you’re a has-been. As an artist that’s been on my mind and that’s why it’s crept into songs like ‘Centrefolds’ and ‘Special Needs’, this idea of washed-up celebrity.”
(𝑅𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑, 𝐴𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑙 2003)

The song hasn’t come out at once but needed several years to get its final shape.
📢𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: "I’ve been working on this song at the time of Without You I'm Nothing. It was hanging somewhere in the air but it came out only last year. It was not ready, that's all… I find it very interesting to be able to do a song in a few minutes and having to wait for six years to write another. "
(𝐿𝑒𝑠 𝐼𝑛𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑢𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑁°382: 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ-𝐴𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑙 2003)

Photo credit: Carole Epinette

For the fans of remixes…
𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 - 𝐀. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐱
➡️ https://bit.ly/3pb6rCy
𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 - 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐄𝐲𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐱
➡️ https://bit.ly/3p7aHCK
𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 - 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐬’ 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭
➡️ https://bit.ly/3QzXD4Q


⭐️𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎⭐️
➡️ https://bit.ly/3PstmE9

Captivating video for 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒, full of melancholic romantic vibe, is fondly loved by most Placebo fans.
It was directed by 𝑷𝒂𝒖𝒍 𝑮𝒐𝒓𝒆 who’s also created music videos for the likes of Massive Attack, New Order, Amy Winehouse, a-ha and Róisín Murphy. Filming was done in a 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒘𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒍 in Hackney, a district in East London.
🌠The video tells a story of a couple, apparently separated, reminiscing their relationship and making out. Those scenes are alternated with the shots of the band playing at the dimed abandoned location which adds to the feeling of loneliness.

📢𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: “The idea behind it is kind of the idea of people making love to a memory. Two people making love whilst not being in the same room. Making love to a memory is something you do quite a bit by yourself after you break up with someone. So we wanted to illustrate that. It involved getting people in there dressed completely in blue and taking them out afterwards at the editing suite. We actually used compressed air on the skin to give the impression of finger marks“
(𝑂𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐷𝑉𝐷, 2004).

⭐️Among Placebo's most often played live songs, 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 is currently no. 6. Between its live debut at the 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟏𝟎𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟑, and performance at 𝐒𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐞̀𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟏𝟑𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖, the song was brought on stage 521 times.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t been included into the 𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝑴𝒆 𝑮𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓 setlists so far. We’ll see how it goes with the upcoming shows😊

Photo credit: David Willis

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬, 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬, 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟑
➡️ https://bit.ly/3SHE4co

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬, 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐀𝐦 𝐑𝐢𝐧, 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟔
➡️ https://bit.ly/3zEiKMc

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬, 𝐅𝐍𝐀𝐂, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟎
➡️ https://bit.ly/2ZpYcUJ

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬, 𝐃𝐞𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕
➡️ https://bit.ly/3BZ5k0a

Post by Olga

♦️𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐘: SPECIAL NEEDS♦️

Today we celebrate the 18th 🔺𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐘🔺 of “𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔”. It was released as the third single from the album “Sleeping with ghosts” on September 15th 2003 and reached no. 27 in the UK Singles Chart.
“Special needs“ is a story about a celebrity told from the view of someone who's sitting in a wheelchair. They reminisces about the times spent with this celebrity but they are also afraid to be written out of their ex's biography and being forgotten.

Photo credit: Screenshots from the video, edit by Silke

🎥 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗𝗦 – 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗢
http://bit.ly/2pCxKGP 

The music video was directed by Paul Gore and filmed in a waterless swimming pool in Hackney. It switches between the three band members playing the song there and a couple, apparently separated, who reminisce their relationship and make out. Brian: “The idea behind it is kind of the idea of people making love to a memory. Two people making love whilst not being in the same room. Making love to a memory is something you do quite a bit by yourself after you break up with someone. So we wanted to illustrate that. It involved getting people in there dressed completely in blue and taking them out afterwards at the editing suite. We actually used compressed air on the skin to give the impression of finger marks“ (Once more with feeling DVD, 2004).

Brian started to write “Special needs“ around 1998 when Placebo was working on their second album “Without you I'm nothing“. But it seemed as if the song wasn't ready to come into existence and refused to get in proper shape back then. So it got stuck somewhere in the back of Brian's mind for years before he was able to finish it. (see quote below). The song finally made it on the band's fourth album “Sleeping with ghosts“ in 2003.

Photo credit: Helena Berg

🎥 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗𝗦 – 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗫𝗧𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗖𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗬 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟬
 🎵 https://bit.ly/3BLBgTm 🎵

"Special needs" is in the top 10 of Placebo's most often played songs at their shows. Currently it's no. 6 with 519 confirmed performances. Since its live debut on March 10th 2003 the song was part of every tour. Last time it was brought on stage was on July 13th 2018 at Sions sous les ètoiles festival in Switzerland. This was the last Placebo concert down to the present day.
The single was available in two different versions. The CD includes an extended version of the song, a remix of “English summer rain” and “Plasticine (Lounge version)”. The DVD consists of the video clip and the making of it, a remix of “The bitter end” and the album version of "Special needs".

Photo credit: Jérôme Brézillon

📌 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗡 “𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗𝗦” 📌
📢 ”The tale of a celebrity has-been told from a wheelchair. Someone reminiscing how the shoe is on the other foot and worrying that they’ll be written out of their ex’s biography.”
(Rock Sound, April 2003)

📢 "I have worked on this song at the time of “Without you I'm nothing”. It was hanging somewhere in the air but it came out only last year. It was not ready, that's all … I find it very interesting to be able to do a song in a few minutes and having to wait six years to write another. "
(Les Inrockuptibles N°382, March-April 2003)

📢 “When you’re releasing your first couple of records you do think that you’re invincible. As a young artist there’s always this voice in the back of your head telling you you’re shit, that you’re not as good as the next guy. By the time you get to your fourth album that voice has changed. You know you can’t be shit because you’ve just sold X amount of records, but now it’s telling you you’re a has-been. As an artist that’s been on my mind and that’s why it’s crept into songs like ‘Centrefolds’ and ‘Special Needs’, this idea of washed-up celebrity.”
(Rock Sound, April 2003)

Post by Silke

A Spanish version of "Special needs"





Today I have something special for you, literally; It's a Spanish version of ”Special needs” by Ernesto Oliviera, an independent musician from Oaxaca City/Mexico.





Ernesto Oliviera is a big fan of Brian Molko.


He loves songs that tell a story and that one can feel identified with.”This is the case with ”Special needs”. It's a song with a powerful message about fame, expectations, past and how things can gradually destroy us or make us feel lost,” the young artist explains.

According to Brian it is a tale of a celebrity has-been told from a wheelchair. In his words it's a story about ”someone reminiscing how the shoe is on the other foot and worrying that they’ll be written out of their ex’s biography.” In Ernesto's opinion all these elements are narrated as a story and included in a slow and calm background music accompanying the lost of the main character itself.
But why doing a Spanish version of ”Special needs”? - The 21-years-old gives a simple and plausible answer: ”The song was so contrasting and attractive to me that I had to try it!”

Ernesto declares that each Placebo piece has lyrics with quite real meanings, and he wanted to represent this using an adaptation to his original language. It is hard to translate from one language to another without removing the identity of the song but he decided to ”don't let the language be an obstacle to communicate what I wanted to.” In the end he came out with this Spanish version of the song and decided to record it. ”In fact Placebo was one of my first alternative rock influences and I'm a big fan of the band,” the Mexican musician thinks back.
Ernesto Oliviera - Special needs (Spanish version)




Ernesto's first contact with Placebo was a concert transmitted on a local TV station. It was their performance at German festival Rock am Ring in 2006. Besides ”Special needs” the songs ”Every you Every me”, ”Special K”, ”Because I want you” and ”Infra-Red” got his attention. He remembers that in addition to the live show the visual art in the background of the stage and the aggressive and precise way of performing were amazing for him. Ernesto: ”Definitely, after that I really wanted to know more about the band!”



Ernesto (r.) is proud of his "Special needs" cover.



”I enjoy spending my time creating music because in fact, it complements two parts of my life,” tells the talented young fan, who studies Electric engineering at university. In his spare time he developes different music projects including genres such as alternative rock, pop, acoustic ensembles and even choral and opera. ”I think the reason why I make different forms of music is due to this aim to create something containing a personal message which people could feel identified to,” he reflects.

Placebo - Special needs




If you want to hear more of Ernesto Oliviera's work you can listen to it on his Youtube channel (see links below). Besides cover versions he has already started to write his own music and is also working on collaborations with some other musicians. ”I’ve got too many ideas in process!” as he says.


FB: https://www.facebook.com/ernesto.m.olivera
Web Page: http://ernestolivera.ml/
Youtube: http://bit.ly/2RkQQgM




Photo credits: Ashley Maile, Itzel Cruz




Text by Silke Mitteregger