Let's be honest, it's about time we had a proper new Coldplay song. Their Viva La Vida album was so wonderfully brilliant, and now, three years on from then (gosh, where has the time gone!), that Coldplay shaped hole in our heart is starting to really miss them.
The song will be streamed from the band's website on Friday and go on sale in the UK on Sunday, but until then, we have the lyrics to look at as well as the glorious cover art.
God bless The Pierces - for delivering one of the best albums of 2011. The feeling with You & I - their fourth record to date - is that as an album, it represents an intense personal relationship between us - the listener - and the two Pierce sisters; Allison and Catherine. You need only look at the tender beauty of tracks like The Good Samaritan to see that truth laid bare in their music.
You'll Be Mine, Love You More, Glorious - placed together in tandem here, we see the record's singles in a new light, and as the tour de force they really are. One of the reasons I've been so forward in championing The Pierces over the last year is that they deliver time and time again - and these three singles are proof of that.
You & I is by far one of the most consistent albums this year and in its fusing of indelible pop hooks, dreamy folk charm and the sheer personality of the sisters, it delivers a breathtaking winning streak from end to start.
Much has been made of the band's involvement with Guy Berryman of Coldplay, and his involvement is telling in the band's sound. In many ways, You & I is like a female companion piece to the very male majesty of Coldplay's Viva La Vida album - hints and essences of the 'Coldplay sound' glimmer everywhere across You & I; the finest of embellishments to an already highly accomplished record.
The sounds of 70s easy listening are back in a big way right now; just look at the success of Plan B and Adele. And if anything, The Pierces do it even better than these two, for their sound isn't attached to any contemporary music trend - instead, they are timeless; the album portraying a kind of alabaster beauty which never dulls or ages.
As such, You & I stands as a stellar collection of artistry. Functioning both as an ensemble of powerfully individual tracks - any of which could be a single - but also like a real 'album' of old. This is the story of The Pierces and it is writ for all to see in the tracks of this album.
If I had to pick a highlight, it'd be the epic Space & Time, with its simply divine chorus. The song just seems to open up in front of you like some kind of gateway to another dimension, the girls voices truly at their most angelic best here. We Are Stars, which previously served as a b-side to Love You More, is another standout.
There’s an old myth about the ease and skill at which musical siblings come together. A myth they say... but listening to Alabama sisters Allison and Catherine, that myth seems so much closer to reality. Collectively the twosome make up The Pierces, and summed up in one word, their music is simply magical.
Imagine dark, stormy nights... howling wind and starlight, the hint of something mystical and powerful, this is the music of The Pierces. This four track EP is headed up by the brilliant Love You More, a song wrapped in such an undeniable, natural sense of melody that you can only marvel at the sisters’ songwriting talent. The girls have been releasing music for the past ten years but it is only now that they have been picked up by a major label and given the exposure they deserve.
If you’ve ever wondered what Elbow or The Doves would sound like with a female vocalist, The Pierces are a pretty good match. Their tracks have that same raw energy running through them; the driving, rough guitar hook a thing that has been gripped and beaten into shape with bare hands and untamed passion. We Are Stars represents a far more gentle sound, but still captures that same hand-crafted, baroque feel. The duo’s lyrics are poetic gems of beauty too; ‘We are dreamers, wishing upon what we were born from’ they sing on this track.
To The Grave shows off a more jolly, upbeat side to The Pierces, highlighting that they are just at home here as with the expansive, melancholy sound that the EP begins with. Across all four tracks though, we keep coming back to a consistent, organic feel that is testament to the skills of Coldplay’s bassist Guy Berryman lending a helping hand with production duties. Indeed, the tracks carry that same shimmering sense of wonder that gave Coldplay’s Viva La Vida album such character. Every song on this EP is rich and powerful; every chorus completely infectious, each track delivered with a conviction and gentleness that is utterly bewitching.
