If Coldplay started out as the poor man’s Radiohead and have gone downhill since then, I’m not quite sure what space is left for Stateless. The debut, self-titled album comes with much fan-fare, mostly based on lead singer Chris James’ time spent singing for DJ Shadow last year on the latter’s The Outsider album and subsequent tour. The hype, however, feels very much like the kind of spin a major label might put on a new act before plastering them on Video Hits for a few months, all underground creditability and overground expectation.
Certainly, if aiming to emulate the commercial success of Coldplay meant aping that band in any way possible, Stateless would be well on the way. The album is a string of mid to low-tempo piano based rock songs. There are a spattering of 5/4 and 7/4 rhythms to add some interest, and everything is recorded beautifully. The drum sounds are of particular note, at times raw and punchy, at others sounding like loops that Massive Attack might use, with the playing quite inventive throughout. Unfortunately, with so much else involved, interesting drums are not enough to carry the album. While there is the odd moment of mention – the climax of ‘Bluetrace’ breaks out of the album’s muted straightjacket for a minute of noisy respite – on the whole, it passes by without much variety. The laboured tempos become oppressive, as do the relentless minor key melodies. “Dreamy and soulful, epic” is how the bio describes them, but pop music cannot survive without great melodies, and Stateless struggle to produce any that are memorable. James’ much touted voice accentuates the problems, slurring and croaking through anything that begins to approach catchiness. Lyrically, ‘Bloodstream’s chorus of “I think I might have inhaled you/I can feel you behind my eyes” pretty much sums up an album’s worth of earnest ‘cleverness’, mostly based on the usual love formulas.
I originally picked this album up from the review pile because the cover artwork looked like it was done by a personal favourite design company – Non-Format. While I could be wrong, my research leads me to believe that this is not actually the case, it is just a straight copy of Non-Format’s style, a copy of someone else’s work, which is indicative of the entire album. (The cover was designed by Non-Format)
But no, I’m still not a fan.
Adrian Elmer
