Turin Brakes - 'Dark On Fire' (Source) Released 17/09/07

"This is the last chance/ the last chance to heed to call..." bellows Olly Knights on the spirited riffing opener, and boy do The Turin Brakes mean it. Wearing their heart on their sleeve, Olly singing portents of doom and with emotions running strong in their urgency to deliver a message - "...sometimes I feel like I'm drowning...you crash a plane into my life..." on the opener 'Last Chance' and the sweeping bitter-sweet lament of 'Something In My Eye' - "...there's no doubt about us/ time is running out about us...". The Balham duo of Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian are back again with all the promise of their Mercury nominated debut, 'The Optimist', the polish of 'Ether Song' and songwriting confidence of 'JackInABox'.

A production richness comes from the lauded Ethan Johns who's worked the wonders and the desks for Kings Of Leon, Ray LaMontagne and Ryan Adams, and here lends an epical grandeur to 'Dark On Fire', utilising for the first time the road band who add a breadth and beefiness to the sound, Olly's voice remains idiosyncratic and determind, countering the stripped folksy Elliott Smith/Travis simplicity of their earlier albums. The Brakes build rock-scaffolding riffs on the funky 'Ghost', like David Gilmour crossed with some 60's pop act sounding accessible like Crowded House/The Doors, and the title track 'Dark On Fire' opts for a broody cello/acoustic rendition with a powerful/epical pulse - "...there's a reason why the world turns around/ in silent sound...", getting lost and found, knowing that we know nothing.

'Stalker' culls with rapacious chords and bass mulling over the darker mindset - "...I am a shark/ I am a razor blade/ and I will destroy all of the friends you made..." - not so much fearsome as wanting to be understood, whilst 'Otherside' sounds like a semi-acoustic antipodean Marillion/Pink Floyd in their quiet 'The Wall' moments, Olly wondering "...what's on the other side of the world...the image from the mirror knows the place I've been...". 'Real Life' opts for the visceral feel-good rock 'n' roll - "...feels just like real life/ on the road..." with swirly-organ, whilst the organ of 'Timewaster' fails to invigorate the the pop jangle. Images of paraffin for the fire open 'For The Fire' - "...I know you will miss me/ one day..." amongst fate going to the flames, whilst "...loneliness creeps through my veins tonight..." on the Stonesy lull of The Optimist-sounding 'Here Comes The Moon'.

Whether 'Dark On Fire' will win over the detractors clutching their ragged papers with bristly jowls pouring bile, for despite its' confidence, 'Dark On Fire' has a weariness in tone as on the heavily-laden 'Bye Pod' - "...we used to laugh about growing old...we poured our lives into 9 to 5's/ and now we're drugged...", a heaviness of the brow that casts doubt over a subsequent album that could be construed from verse throughout 'Dark On Fire'. Bands have played up to their potentials and fell by the wayside - Grandaddy, The Beta Band, and if the efforts don't pan out in the way they want, then what's left to do? Turin Brakes should have few worries considering previous sales.

'Dark On Fire' signs off with the acoustic folk of 'New Star' singing "...old moon/ you couldn't eclipse this brand new sun", a spirited hope for the success of this album.