Newcastle alt-rockers The Pale White, brothers Adam (vocals/guitar) and Jack Hope (drums) return with their third studio album ‘Inanimate Objects of the 21st Century’, following the success of their self-titled debut and the introspective ambition of sophomore album `The Big Sad`. The title, Inanimate Objects of the 21st Century, is a nudge to the uncomfortable irony of our time – as technology accelerates, humanity feels increasingly frozen in place.
We are introduced to this release with `Moth in the Headlights` a metaphor that signifies a critical ecological issue driven by artificial light pollution. Here it`s more to do with what exists beyond Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole located at the very centre of the Milky Way galaxy and situated approximately 26,000 light-years from Earth. It`s a rolling rhythmic, reflective, and quite dreamlike offering to ease us in. We have in `Float Away` another thoughtful track that seems to relate to a relationship that`s drifting apart, with some underlying bitterness. There`s some lovely thrashing guitar riffs on route.
The title `Göbekli Tepe` appears to be a 12,000-year-old archaeological site in southeastern Turkey recognised as the world’s oldest known temple or monumental megalithic structure. The number itself has a colossal immense echoey sound and seems to be about flattening the site or maybe what it stood for and starting again. In `Absolute Cinema` frontman Adam Hope says: is a love letter to the big screen. When we were kids in the mid-2000s, ‘going to the pictures’ with a tenner would get you your film ticket, fast food, and the bus fare home. An expansive racing offering.
`Oh Brother` exudes a kind of frustration, exasperation, disbelief, or annoyance. A real slow burn about acceptance of a romantic break up but with questions still hanging around. The thumping and pounding `Medusa` generally describes a woman with living snakes in place of hair, whose appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her was turned to stone. The analogy is used here as an apotropaic symbol to protect from and ward off a negative former partner.
`Carpe Diem` is a Latin phrase that equates to seize the day or to urge someone to make the most of the present time and give little thought to the future but here its briefly referenced in this track that shimmers and begins tenderly with some enticing harmonies and has surreal lyrics about an unbalanced relationship. The narrator compares himself to a life-sized articulated model or dummy in the slightly melancholic and immersed `Mannequin` which could be another view on a difficult romantic association.
`This Fascination` is fairly stop start profound captivating listen with phantasmagorical lyrics that were a little beyond my comprehension and a sound that gained traction towards the end. There was a Glitter band like almost tribal drum cadence to `Disappoint Me` about constantly being disappointed or feeling let down by somebody close.
We have a really interesting re-imagining of `All I Have To Do Is Dream` to lead us out. A song made famous by The Everly Brothers, an American musical duo who had a massive hit with it in 1958. The intense longing, loneliness, and the power of daydreaming to be with a romantic interest is accentuated with the almost isolated vocal delivery and haunting cello hues which gives the overall impression of edgy remoteness tinged with a slight anxiousness.
‘Inanimate Objects of the 21st Century’ has themes of living in a strange transitional period which is both fascinating and terrifying in equal measure, where humans have become the inanimate objects. It observes this from a distance while trying to navigate a way through the new age. A thought provoking observation and an enjoyable intriguing listen.
Rating 8.5/10
