It’s been 4 years since AWOLNATION served us up their last work in their album ‘Megalithic Symphony’, a massive commercial success with hits such as ’Sail’, so I had high hopes for their latest offering.
‘Run’ is the title song in their latest album.
It’s born out of a monotonous electric melody like something you’d hear from a circa-1970s videogame. It’s so mundane, so simple yet…it keeps you drawn in. It’s addictive.
It’s comfort food for the ear.
Enter the violins that add a sense of importance and a dash of urgency as to where it’s going.
A melancholic guitar accompanies your first taste of the lyrics, “I am a Human being, capable of doing terrible things”, and so it repeats, in contemplation, and leaving you to do the same.
The singer’s voice has a David Byrne-like quality, droney and asexual yet somehow charming.
The singer is disillusioned and yet comfortable in his own power. You feel this song. And it feels you, not remaining static for too long, a crime of many songs in the genre.
It takes you somewhere and rewards you for listening with a simple warning, “Run”.
It hits you with a heavy guitar solo occasionally dropping out, maintaining that tension. It’s laden with electronics. It drops out at places to keep you engaged.
The comfort in his power turns to satisfaction.
AWOLNATION are a band that have done well from advertisements – being from a label run by PR kingpins Red Bull will do them no damage in that regard. And this one should see them embedded in more places.
It guarantees them a degree of success.
‘Run’ leans away from the rocky undertones of ‘Sail’ from Megalithic Symphony for much of it, and isn’t as striking or attention-grabbing as ‘Sail’ for advertisements sake – but I think this single is a different animal – and AWOLNATION will continue to blossom-
-Assuming the ad-watchers decide to look up the music they’re enjoying via osmosis.
AWOLNATION’s ‘Run’ is out on 17th March in the UK and Ireland.