thenewno2 / thefearofmissingout

thenewno2
thefearofmissingout
(Hot Records LTD)
***
Ah, to be the son of a Beatle. No pressure, eh? Luckily Dhani Harrison doesn't lean too much on his dads part in history. Instead of trying to be the worlds next rock'n'roll big shot, he is instead following in the footsteps of a certain other British band...

The new thenewno2 album (that could get confusing) leans on the electronica side of things almost exclusively. And there's a large amount to be credited to Radiohead here – the combination of spiky guitars, wobbly/dreamy male vocals and that clapping, off beat drum noise are all here. The distant echoes of Placebo also ring through tracks like Hanging On.

It comes across as being music for musicians. You can tell the production has been worked over and over in an attempt at perfection. The record could have done with a few more moments of at least planned spontaneity just for effect. The sheer effort here does more than distance him from the weight of his background, but Harrison needs to escape his other ghosts and allow the originality to spread.
Webbs Petherton