Black Swan, the fourth studio installment by Athlete, was released in the UK last autumn, but only now does America have the ten-track album in her hands. Just like many other European outfits, sometimes it takes us a lot longer to sit up and notice the toils transpiring across the Atlantic. Athlete, Deptford, UK’s quartet, paces with the steps of our backyard’s The Fray, with its mainstream charm, and childhood make-up. Black Swan unbolts teeming with “electric love” in Superhuman Touch, steady on the synth play and gilded with a few scales. Track in, track out, there seems to be a fastidious optimism weaved into all their songs where you’re reminded in the reassurance that friends and family will carry you home. It’s the sort of snap, crackle, pop-rock sound that builds with every drum beat into a promising cant, “Keep it coming,” Joel Pott croons, “And I’ll light the way”. The most empowering contribution is in The Unknown for the lost, the ones needing an anthem to lift their heads high. And the two ballads on the album play the roles of archetypal love songs, where one beckons for forgiveness, and the other, The Awkward Goodbye, and the better of the two, longs for “An imaginary world, Where we both belong”, floundering to a lovely dichotomous song. Athlete is certain to entertain with every serving if you’re up for some conventional tunes or just in need of a spin to pep talk your morale.
Key Tracks: Superhuman Touch, The Unknown, The Awkward Goodbye
Moods: Uplifting, Reflective, Sweet, Cathartic, Earnest
Buy: Black Swan
