Indie rock band The Vaccines are known for their addictive, danceable and iconic indie rock songs with hits like ‘If You Wanna’ and the recent release of ‘Headphones Baby’. The band is back again with a new taste of their upcoming album and fresh title track ‘Back In Love City’. The record, which will be released on September 10th, contains 13 songs, and represents the main theme of a fictional Love City, focusing on nothing else but connection. Justin Young, the lead singer of the band, refers to the next question to illustrate the upcoming record: “What if there was a place where love and other emotions had run dry – but you could go to Love City to get them?”.
The euphoric title track ‘Back In Love City’ starts with repeated, modern lines like “Saving up, now we’re back in love city”, backed up bya tempo of light beats with smooth harmonies and backing vocals that transport you to the ‘80s.
The new song has a different sound than what we are used to from The Vaccines which resonates in vintage, nostalgic pop beats with intriguing and playful lyrics in the verses such as “And our fate is on the phone saying, don’t forget your papers for the satisfaction zone” or “Seven years sober, couldn’t give you up for Lent” sung with a sultry voice that adds a mysterious touch to the song. Together with a western guitar sound, it only stimulates you to turn up the radio and sing along in the car on a summer evening.
When the chorus starts, the pace goes faster in correlation which is led by the same harmonic backtrack .“We can’t buy love ’cause we spent it all on you”, the lyricsthat enlighten the fast pace are quick to be imagined to be resonating with echoes of fans singing out loud in sold-out venues.
Even the artwork of ‘Back In Love City’ is pleasing the fans with a palette of neon colours such as pink and purple which illustrate the feeling of escapism to a place somewhere between utopia and dystopia, and the so-called fictional Love City.
Written by: Jamina Roobrouck
GEM Magazine 