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Review: Biffy Clyro - Sounds Like Balloons [Single]

14th Floor // "...the band have created a huge, unavoidably infectious chorus that drives the track along with such positive conviction..."

by Sam Hardy, October 23rd, 2012 and has been Read 1849 times.
Last Edited by: Sam Hardy October 31st, 2012.

The road to Biffy Clyro's widely anticipated sixth studio album has been a precarious one; ever-changing release dates, shifting album names and a quick reshuffling of the format of release - it seems like we've finally got some solid ground to stand upon. Set for a 28th January 2013 release, Opposites will be a double album, comprised of the two rather intriguingly titled records The Land at the End of Our Toes and The Sand at the Core of Our Bones.

LISTEN // Biffy Clyro - Sounds Like Balloons

[The embedded video is a rather poor quality radio rip of the song we found on YouTube. It's not great, but the best we could find. Enjoy!]

'Sounds Like Balloons' is the second track from The Sand at the Core of Our Bones, following the already released 'Stingin' Belle'. It was shown off last night (October 23rd) on Radio 1 for the very first time in all its fully recorded and produced glory, and we've leapt upon the track with all our might because, after a few dozen consecutive listens, we like it.

What we've been given is just under four minutes of what is quintessentially Biffy; a thin-on-the-ground, almost off-beat introductory riff that paves the way for strength of Simon Neil's voice and the poetic value of his lyricism. We've been promised unusual uses of a wide range of instruments on the Opposites albums, and whilst the piano is hardly the most unconventional of musical choices, the sporadic tinkling of keys between bars in the song's first pre-chorus gives it a nice progressive edge that's always so effectively complimented Biffy's style.

But the thing that's so richly engaging and ultimately attractive about 'Sounds Like Balloons' is what made Only Revolutions such an unequivocal success - such a solidly constructed album - the sheer power of the chorus hook. Evoking that recurring image of the "land at the end of our toes" which "goes on and on/and on, and on" and "the sand at the core of our bones/it goes on and on/and on, and on", the band have created a huge, unavoidably infectious chorus that drives the track along with such positive conviction it's a challenge not to be sucked in by just those four lines.



It's not difficult to imagine the vast crowds of Biffy fans chanting along with the utmost fervor (a staple image of any Biffy show, of course, the band cultivates passionate fans) as Neil's words echo around the expansive arenas the band will certainly be filling early next year. It actively invites participation. It verges on the anthemic. But it maintains the right level of artistic value and merit so that it remains both accessible and enriching; it doesn't sacrifice complexity for convenience.

If it was possible for us to be somehow even more excited for the next Biffy album, then we are. We definitely are. Mon the Biff!