As is customary these days, iTunes offers a tantalising preview of new albums before their release date - and with a minute and a half available of each track, you can get a far more real perception of what the album's like than the short 30 second previews of the past.
So what is the new The Wanted album like. Starting with the title and cover, all bloodstained red skies and the lads looking moody, the tone is obviously set up for a far more sombre, serious outing than their first album. And while that obviously doesn't hold true for the full throttle party anthems Lightning and Glad You Came, the newfound maturity on Battleground is undeniable. The Wanted have always positioned themselves as the boyband with grit, and it's a look that suits them well.
Aside from the singles that we've already heard (how amazing is Lightning?! I seriously dream of pop choruses this good all year round), Warzone starts off as classic Wanted ballad material, accentuated by nice little orchestral touches. It's big, sweeping, emotional stuff that suddenly launches into a mid-tempo dubstep style affair. It's an interesting mix of sounds that shows straight away that the band are looking to push their sound to more experimental areas.
Next up, Invincible - for me, this is the real highlight of the album. A kind of Gold Forever part. 2, the bonkers Ibiza synths rocket from left to right as the boys sing some rather amusing school related lyrics... 'please don't tell the principle.' It's the kind of thing you imagine Frankmusik might pull off, if he produced tracks for boybands.
Last To Know is another ballad, again, packing an absolutely massive sense of scale - church organs and towering beats can't help to shake off the feel of this track as being rather predictable though. Sure, it'll have the band's teen fans in floods at live shows, but on the album, aside from the nice production (a running theme throughout the album, it's all super-glossy), it falls flat.
I'll Be Your Strength is one of the most interesting tracks on Battleground - it's fascinatingly minimal, all trembling piano chords and subdued bass. This is the kind of ballad you actually want to hear from the band, something that feels genuinely innovative and emotive. More like this please, lads.
I had high hopes for Dianne Warren-penned song Rocket, and on hearing it, I'm left of two minds. It's one of the stronger tracks on the album, but not as majestically brilliant as I hoped for. It's a filmic, mid-tempo number - again very beat-heavy with lots of sci-fi bleepiness and some nice 'ahhhh-ahhhh-ahhh' vocal hooks. Could quite easily end up as a single.
I Want It All is The Wanted going acoustic - another ballad (there seems to be quite a lot of them on here, doesn't it). Compared to the relentless pace of the band's first album, moments like this fall just over the boring line, and it's a shame because at its best moments, this song sounds like a lost demo off a Keane album or something.
The Weekend is a East-17 House Of Love style rave-up, and while the pulsing synth bursts are enjoyable, it's a real dance-track-by-numbers, lacking the energy and fun of Invincible. A bit of a let down, all things considered.
Lie To Me is a pleasingly good late-album track, striking a kind of confident middle ground between Take That and Coldplay, it's The Wanted's very own Rule The World, with just the right rock flavours to keep things interesting. Like this one a lot.
So, all in all, not a bad showing for Wanted album Number Two - it's certainly a different feel from their debut. Certainly more ballads than I expected, but then, I suppose that can be forgiven seeing as the band have given us three of the best dance-pop tracks of the year in the three singles they've already released from Battleground. More mature, better produced, and on the whole showing real signs of progress, Battleground is definitely the sound of a band here to stay.
Listen to the previews of Battleground and pre-order the album on iTunes.
