NEVER LET ME GO DOWN AGAIN

When Placebo dropped their first single from their upcoming new studio album since 2013’s “Loud Like Love”, I was positively surprised. The title reminded me of the silly “Little James”, Liam Gallagher’s first contribution to Oasis about his then-stepson. It’s as silly as you’d expect for a Liam Gallagher track. But title coincidences apart, it was a very good return. So I waited for the album, which was released last March. But I didn’t get the memo on the second, third and fourth singles. All released prior to the album. I guess that’s the new normal in the 2020’s: just drop all singles ahead of the album. Singles aside, I found more coincidences. “Forever Chemicals” starts with the sounds of pots and pans like “People Are People”. And “Fix Yourself” has a synth line that reminded me a bit of “Cover Me”. But the album didn’t impress me right away. Maybe it’s a grower. It’s better than the two albums they released when we were on a break (“Meds” and “Battle For The Sun”). For now I’m just gonna let it sink in and wait for the placebo effect to kick in.