CD: 1795182
RELEASED: 2009
LABEL: Fiction

01. Death
02. To Lose My Life
03. A Place To Hide
04. Fifty On Our Foreheads
05. Unfinished Business
06. E.S.T
07. From The Stars
08. Farewell To The Fairground
09. Nothing To Give
10. The Price Of Love

To Lose My Life is the debut album from West London trio White Lies who have been tipped as one of the biggest bands of 2009. Releasing two singles Death and Unfinished Business White Lies performed as a warming act for the other teams and then got to work on their debut album. The musicians went to Brussels for that with producers Ed Buller and Max Dingel known for their work on the albums of The Killers and Glasvegas. The latest product of the hype machine, White Lies make their full-length debut with a sound that does justice to 80s goth-dance bands like Depeche Mode. With lyrics as dark as their music, they're more heartbroken than romantic, expressing fear instead of angst, although they are a bit preoccupied with teardrops. But pop accessibility means that White Lies narrowly skirt any associations with less mature emo bands. Their verses are by turns awkward and sometimes just a mouthful, yet always build to tight, occasionally bombastic and often very catchy choruses. Sticking to the strict formula of a quiet start ambling towards a wailing end, however, sometimes weighs down otherwise punchy tracks. The pinnacle of this is the penultimate track, Nothing To Give, which falls prey to the folly of the obligatory slow song, with vocals nearly drowned out by boggy synths and no supporting rhythm. Using synths to enrich the tracks reinforces the 80s feel without resorting to too much caricature, especially on Fifty On Our Foreheads and A Place To Hide where keys take the lead, overlaid with melodic bass lines. Guitars comfortably take a back seat to the swirling tones as long as the rhythm section drives things forward. And although the use of synths throughout the album adds an 80s feel to it, the band has more in kind with what came later that decade; struggling to justify their death fixation in the unforgiving sheen of New Romanticism (Duran Duran) and the 'Big Music' vainglory of U2. Despite having a few flaws, To Lose My Life is an impressive debut album from White Lies. They may not have the most original sound ever put to record, but they do nevertheless pull it off far more convincingly than many that have come before them. Maybe not enough to fill arenas as some have predicted, but certainly enough to promise bigger and better things lie ahead.