Good Night
03 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in 2010, dance, kylie minogue, music, pop, popular music, scissor sisters, top ten, UK charts, UK pop
It’s hard to think about some songs on the Scissor Sisters’ new album without breaking into a sweat. Nearly four years since their last slightly limp attempt at a record, they’re finally back, and without a doubt it’s all about the ins and outs of sex this time. From a tongue in cheek song about anal sex, to Sir Ian McKellen talking about painted whores and sexual gladiators, Night Work goes out of its way to be risqué. It could have gone horribly wrong, of course, but I don’t think it does. At some points it treads the fine line between witty and silly, but all in all it manages to retain the darkly clever campness that the second album lacked.
They’ve ditched the honky tonk pianos and the swishy ditties of Ta-Dah and returned to the hard and fast hi-nrg disco of their self titled debut, which is a relief to hear. Night Work begins with its title track, a Flashdance-esque stomper that may be about prostitution. The tone only sinks from there on in, with Whole New Way, the afore-mentioned ode to anal sex that makes good use of George Michael’s ‘I Want Your Sex’.
Then there’s Fire With Fire, the lead single that showcases a new synth-based direction for the Sisters. I really want to like it – they’ve clearly tried to be different here, with painfully earnest lyrics and emotional vocal delivery, but it’s just too similar to the Killers’ ‘Human’ to be likeable. It’s not a terrible song, but, along with the equally earnest Skin Tight on the second half of the album, it doesn’t really fit on Night Work.
Any Which Way has quickly become one of my favourite tracks on the album. It’s another blatantly tongue in cheek ode to sex, complete with Lipps Inc inspired bassline and Ana Matronic purring sexily about her favourite positions. Harder You Get continues much in the same vein, and here it becomes slightly irritating, with Jake abandoning his usual high pitched shriek for an overly butch growl that doesn’t really suit him. Running Out is equally uninteresting, sounding like a camp commentary on the recession that again doesn’t fit on the album.
Something Like This is more of a grower. Featuring a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Kylie sample, the Sisters have followed the well trodden, synth based path of their favourite Aussie singer here, but it works. Next we come to Skin This Cat, a deeply 80′s inspired slow burner (yes, it’s about sex) that finally makes Ana Matronic an equal to Jake Shears in the lead singer stakes. Skin Tight, as previously mentioned, is another attempt to be different which, though not to be faulted on its production and vocal delivery, still leaves something to be desired.
Luckily there’s Sex And Violence next, which more than makes up for the blandness of the previous track. Like a mixture of Bronski Beat’s ‘Smalltown Boy’ and Madonna’s ‘Sorry’, this is the most serious point on the album, with powerful lyrics that describe the fine line between sexual daring and abuse. The weird high pitched synthesized ‘screech’ that appears over every chorus doesn’t quite manage to spoil it.
With the album coming to a close the Sisters continue in the glammy 80′s inspired vein with the ultra hi-nrg Night Life, with Bucks Fizz drums and Kenny Loggins-esque vocals that leave you almost breathless by the time the final track kicks in.
Invisible Light is, quite possibly, one of the best album closers since Dido’s ‘Take My Hand’. Here the Stuart Price production comes into its own, as a carnivalesque dance beat supports sharply delivered words that, on their own, don’t make too much sense but together form something beautiful. After the obligatory two verse/two chorus structure there is a very welcome three minute interlude, as the drums slowly build to a crescendo and Ian McKellen delivers his Thriller-esque monologue about the whores of Babylon. Then the final chorus explodes, and you can just imagine how amazing it would be to see them perform it on stage.
After some serious consideration, I will give Night Work 8 out of 10. It’s definitely a brave album, featuring as heavily as it does overt sexual references and sailing-close-to-the-edge samples of 80s disco that may irritate some after a decade full of unoriginal pop music. But, as said before, it works. All pop music is about sex, and the Scissor Sisters have embraced that, whilst trying to say something meaningful about our favourite subject at the same time. An album without any filler like the first would have been nice, but it still consigns the flop second album to history. If you like clever pop then Night Work is well worth a listen or five.
