Institute of Contemporary Arts

White Lies

Date: 7 October 2008

White Lies. Photo: Samantha Eva

Matthew Johnson & Alan Bernard Morgan

Having a quick scout around at tonight's audience, it's difficult to imagine what a typical White Lies fan might look like. Male? Yes there are certainly a lot of those, with body odor to match. There were plenty of industry types buzzing around as one might have expected from this highly anticipated show. I had already asked the band before the show how they felt about the presence of some of their musical contemporaries at their gigs, but tonight they need not worry about that unless they care about that bloke from Gavin and Stacey (you know him? small, expressionless face and some trendy attire). All other issues aside, there is a genuine air of excitement about tonight's show, and with good reason. 2008 has produced some genuinely great new artists and White Lies are right up there at the top of the pile.

This band has the potential to be quite a big deal, whatever the hype. Strong vocals and melodies that sit right up along side the Interpols and Editors of this world seem destined for radio play and festival lighters-aloft moments. Live tonight they seemed a little nervous and kept the chat to a minimum. However, they needn't have worried, with the enthusiastic audience regularly singing along, and receiving each song like they'd been listening to it for years.

A very tight and effective live act, if there's one gripe to have with White Lies' sound it's that they're a little over polished. Songs such as Unfinished Business have a strong, sweeping, at times cinematic feel, with lush melodies reminiscent of classical compositions, and it'd be nice if the boys had the confidence in these inherent qualities in their songs to strip back a little of the polish on their live sound - lush songs don't need extra layers of lush production. 'Dark' and 'moody' music always swims down the old ear canals that much better if underlined by a hint of rawness and danger. 'Death' brings the set to a climatic finish as one might have suspected, and the band triumphantly departed the stage. The jury is still out on the life expectancy this three piece, but at least for tonight, they truly live up to the hype.