‘Bright Lights’ by Placebo (PIAS)

Forget it’s a Monday. Happy last week of the first month of the year! Soon it’ll be time for us to hit those ATMs, check our bank accounts and go “WTF?”. But right now, it’s time for a new single. ‘Bright Lights’ from Placebo’s Battle For The Sun, as the title suggests, has a brighter sound compared to the band’s usual angst-engraved bullets.

Back in the 90s, Placebo shot to fame with their fierce liberal stance on sexuality and individuality. Fueled by anthems like ‘Nancy Boy’, ‘Pure Morning’ and ‘Every You Every Me’, Placebo weren’t you’re typical manufactured goth rock act. This was a band who, no matter how depressive, were real. No need to hide behind eyeliners here (although they did wear them).

But after going through some tumulus times during 2006’s Meds, the band’s drummer Steve Hewitt quit and things looked bad. However, Placebo bounced back from the darkness with new drummer Steve Forrest and gave us last year’s Battle For The Sun – their most uplifting and inspiring album ever.

Without sounding cheesy, Brian Molko goes “cause a heart that hurts is a heart that works” on ‘Bright Lights’. And JUICE can’t argue with that. Let’s hope that the positive vibe from this song resonates with all of us and brings the band to our shores soon. And if that happens, remember you heard it here first.

Read our interview with bassist Stefan Olsdal here.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7LQZaS2_dA[/youtube]