Kasabian - Building an "Empire"

STOP!I said it's happening againWe're all wasting awayWe're all wasting awayAnd so goes the chorus of Kasabian's driving new single "Empire", out last week in the UK. Anthemic, beat driven, great hook performed by the strings, and including a characteristic fade out to a few instruments right before a final fist-pumping chorus -- this song is going to be a winner live. It's a call to action featuring a very politically minded video, even more explicit than "Club Foot" was in 2004. (Check out the video on the band's website http://www.kasabian.co.uk/home/ ) I expected a lot from the new single, and, in my opinion, Kasabian have delivered a great new song. It took a few times through to catch many of Tom's lyrics (and yes, there are garbled lyrics to be had a la the first album), but the hook did it's job and made me stick around for more. And in this age of downloads and special b-side releases, we cannot forget the great b-side "Black Whistler" that comes on this single. This shows a complete 180 from "Empire" -- a slow, bluesy song which hearkens back to the heyday of trip hop. Androgynous vocals, meandering drum beat and bass line, and all kinds of wonderful sounds for headphone listeners. Think Massive Attack's "Future Proof" or Portishead's "Sour Times". This song provides the perfect flipside to the heaviness and exhortation (in both theme and music) of a-side "Empire". "Black Whistler" (another enigmatic title that may never be explained) paints a portrait of a pounding hangover and details one lover speaking to another. "Empire" talks to the universal, "Black Whistler" to the personal.In Kasabian's own words... "It's all happening again!" I hope the new album grows from where this single has started us.