Whether it’s post electronica beats or reggae influenced rhythms, Breton can nearly always be accounted for delivering intriguing indie-tronica. 
On new track Titan however, I’m not so convinced.
The deluxe reissue has generally been the call of the company, recognising a back catalogue of songs with potential but not enough for an original LP. So here comes the Deluxe reissue with 11 new tracks overall, with the ‘lead’ single, Titan. (Really it’s 2 new tracks, 7 bonus tracks and the two Force of Habit EP tracks, that only Americans could get originally.)
It’s considerably easy to picture Titan on the original War Room Stories. The familiar string and piano sections, intersecting and sped up to provide an elevated effect on the more stereotypically slower arrangements, while beat pops, transmute into forceful percussion smashes, that feel systematically correct for these Londoners.
A noticeable difference on Titan, is the lack of an attentive chorus. Almost the biggest selling point about Breton (for me anyway), has been their ability to recognise the desire for a memorable, earworm of a chorus, that gets you dancing as if you actually can, then topping this with lyrics you can gleefully sing along to, or pretend to.
An upbeat chorus arrives, but it doesn’t feel how a Breton chorus should. It lacks integrity, the cultural spark that Breton posses from their huge, French fan base seems to have disappeared. Granted, Titan is an enjoyable track, after a few listens, you’ll more than likely be in love. But it’s a colour drain. Everything’s the same, we’re just not getting the exuberant colours that make up Breton. The art work for WRS II might be colourful, but all Breton are providing is beige.
They can slap on as many visually pleasing objects onto the album art as they like, but that doesn’t displace the fact that it screams, corporate interference.
WRS II is out November 10th, in both digital and CD formats.
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