The Power Out

Infobox Album
Name = The Power Out
Type = Album
Artist = Electrelane


Released = Start date|2004|1|26
Recorded = April 2003-May 2003 at Electrical Audio, Chicago, Illinois
Genre = Rock Post-rock
Length = 43:25
Language = English, French, Spanish, German
Label = Beggars Banquet
Reviews = * Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jbfqxqyald6e link]
*BBC Collective (7/10) [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A2235863 link]
*Calgary Sun Rating|3.5|5 [http://calgarysun.com/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=83213&x=articles&s=music link]
*Drowned in Sound (8/10) [http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/9084.html link]
*Entertainment Weekly (A-) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1007251,00.html link]
*The Guardian Rating|4|5 [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,11712,1134172,00.html link]
*The Observer Rating|4|5 [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/10bestcds/story/0,12102,1133072,00.html link]
*Piero Scaruffi (6.5/10) [http://www.scaruffi.com/vol7/electrel.html#pow link]
* Pitchfork Media (7.5/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/17406-the-power-out link]
*Stylus Magazine (A-) [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/electrelane/the-power-out.htm link]
Last album = "Rock It to the Moon" (2001)
This album = The Power Out (2004)
Next album = "Axes" (2005)
Misc = Singles
Name = The Power Out
Type = Album
Single 1 = On Parade
Single 1 date = Start date|2003|10|6
Single 2 = This Deed
Single 2 date = Start date|2004|4|26

"The Power Out" is the second album by English rock group Electrelane. It was released on compact disc and vinyl in 2004 by Too Pure. It was recorded in Chicago, Illinois in early 2003 by Steve Albini. The album's lead single, "On Parade" was a hit on college radio. [cite web | title = Listen2This: The Charts | publisher = Entertainment Weekly | date = 2004-03-19 | url = http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,600226,00.html | accessdate = 2008-02-14 ] The album did not receive mainstream commercial success, despite receiving mostly positive critical reviews.

Background

igning with Too Pure

The band's first release, "Rock It to the Moon" received a lackluster commercial response due to limited distribution, promotion and exposure. The band signed with Too Pure, a member of the Beggars Group for their follow-up. As drummer Emma Gaze explained, the new label had "so many people and departments, and we knew, purely for that reason, that there would be more response to the new album."cite web | last = Draper | first = Jimmy | title = Electre'lady land: All-woman U.K. band Electrelane mess with our heads | publisher = San Francisco Bay Guardian | date = 2004-09-15 | url = http://www.sfbg.com/38/51/art_music_electrelane.html | accessdate = 2008-02-14 | quote= So it's not entirely surprising that, despite an initially lackluster response, America is coming around to Electrelane's unusually eclectic sound. 'It was sad that the first album seemed to get lost, but obviously we didn't have lots of people working with us [to help get it heard] ,' explains Gaze, who cofounded the band with Susman in 1998, over the phone from her Brighton home. 'Now we've got the Beggars Group – they're huge. They have so many people and departments, and we knew, purely for that reason, that there would be more response to the new album.' ]

Critics also commented that Too Pure was a good fit for Electrelane, as many of the other label's acts (such as Stereolab and Th' Faith Healers) shared similarities with the group.cite web | last = Phares | first = Heather | title = The Power Out | publisher = Allmusic | date = 2004 | url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:lxduak3kam3p | accessdate = 2008-02-14 ] cite web | last = Edwards | first = Tom | title = Electrelane: The Power Out | publisher = Drowned in Sound | date = 2004 | url = http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/9084.html | accessdate = 2008-02-14 ]

Production

The band brought in producer Steve Albini for "The Power Out". Initially, the band had contacted him to try and get a spot on the All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) music festival. The roster had already been filled, but Albini wrote back to the band telling them to contact him if they wanted to work with him in the future. The band went to Steve Albini's Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, Illinois and recorded the album in a break-free three week period from April to May 2003.cite web | last = Carew | first = Anthony | title = Electrelane find their voice | publisher = Neumu | date = 2004-03-23 | url = http://www.neumu.net/datastream/2004/2004-00030/2004-00030_datastream.shtml | accessdate = 2008-02-14 ]

Electrelane still handled production duties, while Albini was in charge of recording and mixing. With "Rock It to the Moon" using overdubs and Pro Tools mixing, Albini was renowned for frills-free, all-analog recording, generally keeping effects to a minimum; he used these techniques on "The Power Out" as well.

The music

"The Power Out" is perhaps best characterized by a "starling and unique" "stylistic hodgepodge".cite web | last = Ott | first = Chris | title = Electrelane: The Power Out | publisher = Pitchfork | date = 2004-03-02 | url = http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/17406-the-power-out | accessdate = 2008-02-14 ] cite web | last = Warren | first = Emma | title = Electrelane: The Power Out | publisher = The Observer | date = 2004-02-01 | url = http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/10bestcds/story/0,12102,1133072,00.html | accessdate = 2008-02-14 ] The major stylistic themes of the album, which often overlap, are foreign languages and literary references.

The album opener, "Gone Under Sea" is sung entirely in French. The following song, "On Parade" was inspired by Radclyffe Hall's 1928 lesbian novel, "The Well of Loneliness". A large part of the lyrics in "The Valleys" come from Siegfried Sassoon's 1917 poem "A Letter Home" (from "The Old Huntsman"). The literary references continue, with "Oh Sombra!", the sixth track. The song's Spanish lyrics are a sonnet by 16th century Catalan poet Juan Boscán Almogáver. Finally, on "This Deed" the German lyrics are from Friedrich Nietzsche's "Die fröhliche Wissenschaft" followed by the inclamation "Hände hoch!" (or "Hands up!"). The lyrical content marked not only a pretty wide departure from the average rock record, but it also came as a big change from a band whose only album to date had been almost entirely instrumental.

Musically, the album is less diverse than the lyrics, with Electrelane playing within their usual Krautrock-inspired range, although the songs could be considered to be more within conventional pop structures than their predecessors. Perhaps the most notable musical departure from Electrelane's norm is the inclusion of the Chicago a cappella ensemble to invoke a 1960s gospel hymn to the song. A saxophone and a piano are used in the two closing tracks.

Critical Reception

Critical reception to "The Power Out" was generally very positive. While the band's use of other languages and literary references may have been referred to as gimmicks, they were regarded as gimmicks with merit.cite web | last = Miron | first = Dan | title = Electrelane: The Power Out | publisher = Stylus Magazine | date = 2005-01-26 | url = http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/electrelane/the-power-out.htm | accessdate = 2008-02-14 ] The album was more focused than its predecessor, with Emma Warren of "The Observer", considering the album to be "a great example of how the band have transformed themselves from a sparky but essentially limited instrumental four-piece into the major league" and the "New York Times" calling it "impressive". [cite news | last = Sanneh | first = Kelefah | title = Singing in Four Languages, Revealing in None | publisher = The New York Times | date = 2004-04-03 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E7DB1339F930A35757C0A9629C8B63&scp=5&sq=electrelane&st=nyt | accessdate = 2008-02-14 ]

One notable critic who felt the album was weaker than its predecessor was Piero Scaruffi, who noted that the album's songs were "more regular" than their predecessors. [cite web | last = Scaruffi | first = Piero | title = The History of Rock Music: Electrelane | date = 2007 | url = http://www.scaruffi.com/vol7/electrel.html | accessdate = 2008-02-14 ]

Track listing

All songs were written by Electrelane, except where noted.

# "Gone Under Sea" – 3:12
# "On Parade" – 2:35
# "The Valleys" (Electrelane, Siegfried Sassoon) – 5:20
# "Birds" – 3:53
# "Take the Bit Between Your Teeth" – 4:58
# "Oh Sombra!" (Electrelane, Juan Boscán Almogáver) – 2:58
# "Enter Laughing" – 3:42
# "This Deed" (Electrelane, Friedrich Nietzsche) – 3:24
# "Love Builds Up" – 5:24
# "Only One Thing Is Needed" – 4:33
# "You Make Me Weak at the Knees" – 3:24

Some versions of the album contain the following bonus tracks:
*"I'm on Fire" (Bruce Springsteen) – 2:16
*"Teach the Sailor to Pray" – 3:16

Personnel

*Verity Susman – guitar, keyboards, saxophone, vocals, choir arrangement
*Emma Gaze – drums
*Mia Clarke – guitar
*Rachel Dalley – bass
*Chicago a Capella – vocals
*Steve Albini – engineer
*Steve Rooke – mastering

Release History

References