It is fair to say that Current State is a song of two halves. Well, four really… so that would be quarters then. Whereas many songs start in a more subdued sonic realm and build the drama, pushing things to more rarified and often heavier musical heights, Current State hops around in a wonderfully schizophrenic state between two distinct musical personalities.
Starting in understated alt-pop pastures, it adopts balladic trappings, two voices spiralling around to an almost cinematic underpinning. And then, having led the listener to certain expectations, it then jumps to other, far less expected, digital, dance-fulled conclusions. But the clever thing is that, having pulled the trick once, it does so again, alternating between these two states, one windswept and mysterious, the other high-octane, night-club euphoria.
So, where this fits into the grand scheme of things, is hard to say, not that it matters, all the best music defies easy categorisation, can’t be concisley labelled and shrugs off the act of being neatly slotted into one genre or another. What matters is the eclectic nature of the song, part fantasy film score, part strutting, swaggering electro-anthem; a track with one foot in the late-night world of dance divas, the other in a dreamy alt-pop otherworld, the other in the sound of club music to come, the other in the realm of classical grace. Okay, again, the maths doesn’t stand up to scrutiny but you know where I’m coming from.
Current State is a track full of surprises and isn’t that what you want music to do…surprise you? Imagine if we just hankered after past glories, stuck with what we are already familiar with, stopped being adventurous and stayed within our comfort zones. What sort of world would that be? It does at least explains why Oasis tribute bands are so popular I guess!
