The world of UK guitar music has changed in the decade since Snow Patrol signed their first major-label contract. A passing glance at the state of British mainstream radio neatly illustrates how it's shifted for bands of their ilk: When Snow Patrol inked a deal with Polydor's Fiction imprint in 2002, Steve Lamacq still lorded over evenings on Radio 1. His "Evening Session" show was where I first taped songs by bands like Idlewild, Snow Patrol, and Seafood.
Tune in tonight between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., and you're more likely to catch Guetta or Skrillex than an "indie" pop band. It's pretty much the same during the day, when hyperactive bass music and loud, super-compressed pop music hold court. You might think bands like Coldplay, Snow Patrol, and Elbow would be beyond trying to square up to that world, but Coldplay ushered in some subtle shades of R&B production on last year's Mylo Xyloto, and on Fallen Empires Snow Patrol pick at similar threads with electronic touches of their own.
That change in direction is evident on opener "I'll Never Let Go" as arpeggiated synth notes open and then carry the entire song. The build from there is slow-- growing as distorted guitars throw weight into the chorus-- but the song reaches ridiculous proportions when folk-pop singer Lissie provides gospel singing toward the finale (warning: she pops up on an additional three songs). You get the sense they're shooting for something epic, something that would sound just as big as the pop bangers on radio, but the results are goofy.
Electronics appear heavily on another four songs, enough for the band to describe the album as a showcase for their "secret love of Techno." Listening to those songs, it seems less the product of five guys who secretly listen to Michael Mayer backstage before playing to 10,000 people, and more like somebody who might enjoy the techno preset demo on a Yamaha keyboard.
They sound more at ease in the second half of the record, returning to the territory of big ballads and acoustic guitars. That portion of the album's ushered in by "Berlin", a charming instrumental that sounds more like Sufjan Stevens or Jónsi (Owen Pallett and Nico Muhly provided arrangements here and elsewhere). Less edgy, sure, but signifiers like that are a much better fit for a band that has always had a knack for big arrangements.
Songs like "Lifening" and "New York" bludgeon with sentiment, but one of these per record could probably keep Snow Patrol in business for life on rom-com movie scores alone. They're the exact kind of home runs you get the feeling Snow Patrol could hit in their sleep. Which makes you wonder if, in the future, instead of toying with awkward electronics they might be better served sticking to what they already do pretty effectively. I mean, nobody's going to have Skrillex as the first dance at their wedding.
