When someone mentions Toploader, 'rock' might not quite be the first word that springs to mind, but in new single She Said, that's exactly where they find themselves. And you know what, it really suits them.
Halfway between U2 and Echo & The Bunnymen, wailing reverb and fuzzy guitar work provide a gritty, metallic foundation for singer Joseph Washbourn to cry out the pains of his emotions.
In She Said, Toploader hit upon real substance, the cement to hold them down amidst a world that seems all too hectic these days.
Previous single A Balance To All Things felt sprightly, full of evolution, yet still very much tied to the band's past. With She Said, Toploader cut free of all such ties, unleashing the tamed inner beast. Judging by how good this sounds, it's a route they should take more often.
When you think of Toploader, you are inviably going to leap first to their cover of Dancing In The Moonlight. The band's biggest hit, it reached number seven in the UK charts all the way back in 2000. At the turn of the millenium, British music was a very different scene that it is today. In those innocent, naive days, a new decade gleaming bright before us; a track like Dancing In The Moonlight seemed bright and joyous - the perfect track to usher in a new era.
But instead it seemed only to over-shadow everything else the band did, the band eventually breaking up in 2003. But here stands a new decade, the band reformed, their new album Only Human all set to go, a legion of potential new listeners out there. And single A Balance To All Things could very well be the track to win them around. The soulful, emotional vocals of the Toploader of old remain, but they come repackaged in a shiny new body.
Strong piano chords and muscular guitar riffs stand tall, striking out the foundations of a song that comes on like a mix of classic Echo & The Bunnymen and Deacon Blue. It's good old-fashioned rock with a soaring Brit-pop melody to match. A Balance To All Things indeed - this track plays the field, touching base on all grounds to ensure there's a little something for everyone here. This is music made to please.
There's even a brief, New Order-like bassline and the ever-so-slight shimmer of vocal effects. It's little touches like these that see Toploader dipping their feet into the waters of experimentation. A straight-up bit of radio friendly pop-rock this might be, but the willingness to explore new sounds is clear throughout the track, and it feels all the more adult for it.
Producer Ash Howes, who's previous work includes material with the likes of Girls Aloud, has also remixed the track for its single release.
A Balance To All Things is released on the 30th May. The band's new album Only Human can be pre-ordered here.
