A Celebration Of Endings - Biffy Clyro
It’s a running joke that I don’t like Biffy Clyro. Aaron has been trying to convince me to get into them ever since I met him three years ago, and despite multiple listening parties and the occasional single they’ve never quite clicked for me. However, I thought I may as well give them another chance as some of my current favourite bands were once artists that I avoided listening to, and what better time than on the release of their highly anticipated new album ‘A Celebration Of Endings’, aptly named as it might be my chance to end Aaron’s disappointment of my music taste.
Before I get to the nuts and bolts – my favourite songs of the LP – the album in general has an indie/pop vibe like their more recent releases have aspired to, but this shouldn’t turn away fans of their older, gritter tunes as they show no sign of losing their ability to combine heavy rock and even metal themes into the same songs that make you feel as though you are a suspended in a bubble surrounded by clouds and rainbows, drifting whichever way the clam breeze wants. I’m not sure if that analogy makes sense, but that is how the album’s anthemic tracks make me feel.
That feeling never lasts for long though; Biffy Clyro are the masters of juxtaposition, as that calm breeze that keeps you afloat can turn into a whirlwind before the musical bar has even finished. I was taken about by how they can make a song sound like a DIY bedroom recording, but completely stadium-ready at the same time. In the past this has put me off their songs; I often find myself wanting more beef from the guitar, or longer, grander string sections. Biffy Clyro walk a fine, risky line between the two, but it evidently works for them, as I can’t name any other bands who have become so successful with a similar sound.
While Simon Neil is famous for wielding a simple Fender Stratocaster and the infamously temperamental BOSS Metal Zone in one hand, he commands a Hollywood-film-grade orchestra in the other. Figuratively speaking, of course, or that would be weird. Or maybe even more impressive. Who knows?
The Stadium
Instant History was the first single to be teased in the lead up to the full album release, and if I am completely honest it went over my head completely as I took it to be just another simple, crowd-pleasing stadium pop song. It caught my attention on our listen-through, however, as Neil’s emotional voice cut right through me from the start.
“If this had been a Bring Me The Horizon song I would have instantly (no-pun intended) jumped on it and hailed it as Jesus’s second coming,” I joked with Aaron, which later made me aware of how easy it is to be unintentionally biased towards what you know and feel comfortable with. I’m very stubborn when it comes to liking new music, which is slightly counter-productive in my line of work, but listening back now I find it much easier to draw parallels between it and what I already love, and it is growing on me by the second. The song is heavily synth-based and does a very good job of playing on modern trends while keeping the stadium rock vibe alive.
The Rock
If you combined Scottish punk, a sprinkling of Tool, and all the styles that I mentioned in the previous paragraph together one angsty mixing bowl you would create End Of – another of the pre-album singles. Old Biffy fans will be overjoyed to hear the return of Neil’s scream vocals and signature riffs. Admittedly, there are a lot of tracks on the album that I think sound like contrived nursery rhymes that I had to sift through to get to what I would call ‘playlist songs’ – tracks that I would listen to a general playlist while out and about – and while these tracks are not ‘bad’ by any stretch, End Of is a song that is going to be remembered well past their future releases and will likely be a pivotal point for new listeners like me. The song is angry and driven, soul-felt and emotionally charged, but also stylish and groovy, anthemic and catchy, and boasts all the hallmarks of a solid single. Or as Aaron put it, displays that Biffy have the best “woah-ohs” of any rock band, and we know that stadium crowds love a good “woah-oh”.
The Cinematic Car Advert
I usually find token piano pieces boring or cheesy at best, but again Biffy subvert expectation and typicality by successfully creating an emotional love song that I won’t turn my nose up at – quite a feat, I tell you. Space sounds like a Take That song, perfect for long car journeys to far-away holiday destinations or slo-mo photo reels in the setting sun. It is yet another example of their genius song-writing, providing a little something for everyone. I usually like to write about more controversial pieces of music that have challenging social context and arduous emotional connection to audiences, but Space is just a nice love song and that is all it needs to be.
The...I Don't Even Know...
And then we have Cop Syrup. Yes, the name is representative of the weird wall of noise that hits you from the start. I find a lot of the heavier Biffy songs to be like maths equations while I’m sh*t at maths, but in the case of Cop Syrup it is entirely necessary. A much longer song at six minutes and seven seconds, it is both structurally and audibly less marketable than the previous songs that I have mentioned. It is a good summary of a lot of the sounds that A Celebration Of Endings present the listener with previously, and there is a long acoustic/orchestral section in the final third of the track that, again, is final reminder that the band revel in their ability to write in a mixture of styles and odd tonalities. The epic highs soar, and the dirty lows grind like jazz but everything sounds shit…in a good way. Cop Syrup is the perfect way to end an album.
And that concludes the brief summary of my favourite songs from the album. I only kept it short for time’s sake but there is far more available to your ears if you fancy delving into the album for yourself and haven’t already. Biffy Clyro remain a band that I have a lot of respect for because they do things their own way and do it well. The songs I have discussed show that they can write to be commercially acceptable but also expressive and unique. If you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing on social media and checking out my past work. I put a lot of time and soul into what I do and would love to keep it up, and the best way to show support for what I do is to get it into the hands of other readers, writers, artists, etc. I don’t usually like talking about the promotion side of running a site like mine but I would love to see the Straightforward. brand continue grow for the benefit of myself, my future career, and the artists that I get to write for and about. Follow me on Facebook and Instragram to stay posted about my activity and, if you are in need of something being written, I am very easy to contact and enjoy working with artists.