KASABIAN look set to topple Ed Sheeran from the number one position on the album chart today with their brand new album For Crying Out Loud. It’s the band’s sixth album and one which was conceived and written in just six weeks.
That concentrated focus seems to have paid off as For Crying Out Loud in my opinion is Kasabian’s most enjoyable listen to date. Singer Tom Meighan tells me that the band are also extremely happy with the latest chapter in their ultra-cool career.
“I know I probably say this about every album we put out but I really do think this is our best yet by far. It’s a lot less poetic than our other albums and gets very much straight to the point, you know? I think it is a much more human record too that everyone can relate to. I personally can relate to the lyrics and the music on For Crying Out Loud is just full on. It pumps you up and is a great rock n roll record so yeah, Serge and I are really happy about it.”
Serge is of course Sergio Pizzorno, the band’s main writer, co-vocalist and guitar player. It was Serge’s idea to aim for the album’s super-fast turnaround, which Tom believes made For Crying out Loud blossom so easily.
“It was great because in that six-week period when Serge was writing, the songs just kept flowing and instead of that time frame piling on the pressure it actually seemed to unleash a whole wave of songs that came really easily and quickly. Serge was really feeling it which goes back to what I was saying about it being a very human record – from the writing to the recording it just flew out of us.”
For Crying Out Loud does sound as if Kasabian have let themselves off an already long leash and is full of glam rock, disco funk and semi-rave anthems – an intense and mad mixture that somehow ends up seeming like the most logical of musical amalgamations.
Songs such as God Bless This Acid House, Are You Looking For Action? And the lead single You’re In Love With A Psycho jump out of the speakers with both grace and aggression and the choruses are so strong you swear you’ve known them for years.
Even the more gentle moments are delivered with conviction and maximum effort. Wasted, for example, is a personal and plaintive song that echoes 60s West Coast America and works a treat while the campfire sing a long of Put your Life On It is another highlight.
Tom points out that all the songs on the album, from the rockiest to the most subtle are all very emotionally honest.
“All those songs are biographical and personal to me for sure... and to all the band I suppose. Wasted tells its own story of missing someone and it’s one we can all identify with. That’s one of my favourites on the record. Then a song like Bless This Acid House is also very personal and meaningful to me as it was the last song we recorded in the sessions and I sang my heart out on it.”
The songs on For Crying Out Loud like the vast majority of Kasabian’s catalogue will no doubt take on an even bigger life of their own in a concert scenario. With the band lined up to play a Belfast date at Custom House Square on August 22, Tom is confident that the new songs will definitely hit the spot with a Northern Ireland audience and cites Belfast as a favourite city on the band’s tour schedule.
“When we stand and play as a band in the studio we do think ‘wow this song will be amazing live’ or ‘I can’t wait to hear the crowd sing this one’ and with this record we felt that even more. So we are looking forward to getting out there now to the fans with new songs and a new spring in our step.
"Belfast is an amazing city and we love playing there. The energy we get from the audience there is really special and I think we feed off each other very well. We can’t wait to hit the stage in Northern Ireland this summer and connect with the fans again."
