On the realisation that Rant, The Futureheads fifth album is a cappela - just four burley northern ‘blokes’ singing Barbershop style to The Black Eyed Pea’s ‘Meet Me Halfway’ amongst other covers, I was perplexed...but intrigued nonetheless.
According to a recent press statement from the band, “A Futureheads fan who doesn’t get Rant, is not a Futureheads fan.” We all know to take comments like that with a generous pinch of salt, Oh yes of course the fault must lie with me, because I’m obviously not a real fan. Snore.
Nevertheless,... (long pause), why not? How inventive, having always been noted as forward thinkers as a band per se, what better way to shock and create hype than to deliver something completely unexpected, a concept that leads to curiosity- a stunt album.
What they have created is irritating in parts (Meet Me Halfway) and glorious in others (The No.1 Song In Heaven, cover of Sparks). The idea for a Barbershop style album came after they covered Kelis’s ‘Acappella’, for Radio Ones’ Live Lounge Sessions. This appears on the album. ‘Meantime’ is another highlight.
‘Rant’ is not going to go down as a stone wall classic by any stretch, but nonetheless it’s a record worth having in the collection. I don’t foresee it reigning the album charts throughout the year, but it will serve as a reminder to those who have ever liked The Futureheads. I hope that their next album will be a little more refined. To me it just seems quite clumsy, and like a bit of a joke, which after the full 35 minutes, gets rather tiresome. However, what you do have is a pleasant album, and definitely worth a spin.
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