promote ll’il/mul You I‘m ADI/ling. l’laeebo haye a small role in li'll't'l (in/(littillt'. 'l‘Uthl llaynes’ stunt-tn— be—released lilm about the glam— roek era. But while .\lolko might

share many a glam band‘s loye ot‘

eross-dressing and experimenting with slap. the similarities end there.

.\\'llCl] l (liSCUVCI'L‘kl Ziggy Stun/11.x! And The Spit/em Hum .Wum. it was a great t'oek album to me.‘ draw ls .\lolko in his distinetix e hybrid aeeent. "l‘hat

ereated a platl’orm l'rom whieh to diseoy er Iggy and The Stooges but the inlluenee it had on me was on a some leyel rather than an aestheties thing. (ilam stuff like (iary (ilitter. The Sweet. .\lud. people like that. essentially. they were just a buneh ot' lager-louts running about in their mothers’ underwear. \Ve're definitely not trying to reinyent that.~

One thing that the new album does ieinyent is the Iouehe sound of the \'el\et l'nderground. a

deeadent mix of urgent. jagged l‘eelings. followed by the iney itable melaneholy eomedown. \lttlkt) talks til. ‘tltgestitig int‘luenees. taking them in rather than just eopying them‘ and. for my money. I'm Nor/ring Hit/mu! You would suggest a diet of the l'nderground’s /.(’(l(/(’(/ followed by an aperitif of Lou Reed‘s masterpieee ot‘ miserabilism [fer/in. It‘s a wry good album and one which \ltilkti deseribes as 'sehi/opln‘enie”.

3

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PLAOEBO

'\\'hen you spend three years touring. you tnake saerii‘iees in your lite.‘ says Hewitt. explaining the album‘s split personality. ‘.'\i’ter touring. when you eome baek to roost. it's to an empty house. The pensiye stuff was written in the studio when we'd got baek. 'l'he roeky stuff was written on the t'nitth

While the hattth professional life was beeoming more and more

healthy. the indiyidual members‘ liyes were coming apart. It seems the title Hit/mu! You ['12: Nothing works on a Variety of leyels.

'You haye to make a deeision at some point in your eareer as a inttsieian.~ eonsiders .\lolko. 'You haye to think about saerit‘ieing emotional stability for a eareer goal: and once you make the deeision to make that saeritiee. so mueh falls by the wayside. :\s you distanee yourselt' physieally from people. what happens is that you are distanced from them on an emotional leyel as well. .-\nd ot'ten the distanee between you is Very dit'l'ieult to get baek and to walk aet'oss.’

()ne song in partieular on Hit/mu! You I'm Roi/ling speaks ot- this t'raeturing of normal relationships. .-\t first listen. '.\1y Sweet l’rinee’ with its retet'enees to ehasing the dragon and the elosing up of holes in \‘eins. sounds like a song about heroin. a drug whieh .\Iolko has sais he has used.

‘lt’s not about drugs.‘ shrugs .\1olko. “My Sweet l’rinee" yomited itseli' forward. lt's yery personal and talks about the dark emotions and situations that surrounded us. It‘s probably the most tender and Vulnerable thing that l’laeebo has done so far and it's about the degeneration of a yery elose relationship. Not drugs.‘

l.urid past reyelations pale into insignii'ieanee. But then. heartbreak always was more shoeking than hedonism.

Placebo play Glasgow Barrowland, Wed 14 Oct.

8 :ic. “MR THE LIST15