It was interesting to hear that Razorlight had written much of their third album on a remote isle in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides region; perhaps tranquility and seclusion would serve them well after the colossal success of their last record. When you first hear Slipway Fires, however, it’ll sound like that self-imposed isolation – where, it’s presumed, there was one radio station playing Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ on repeat – has been detrimental to a band unclear of their next step.
An edgy rock album, reminiscent of Razorlight’s great debut, had been promised but is nowhere to be heard; in fact, such is the lack of dynamism on Slipway Fires that this writer assumed she’d been given the wrong promo CD. Sombre, piano-led ballad ‘Wire to Wire’ is a strange choice of opener, and even stranger choice of lead single, although it does set the tone for the rest of the album: solemn numbers that are high on drama but low on immediate likeability, or ballads that sound like they’ve been ripped from the local Musical Society’s songbook.
The electric, vibrant rock tunes that Razorlight excel at are in short supply here, and even when they do rear their head (‘You and the Rest’), they’re worryingly comparable to Whitesnake or similar generic ‘80s pap. It’s the jubilant melody of ‘Burberry Blue Eyes’ that saves this album from being a complete shambles – but its generally unsettled, confused tone will very possibly disappoint even the most ardent of Razorlight fans.