Aaaaand, we're back! First up, I owe you all an apology - I managed let the whole of January and February go by without a blog update... tsk, tsk! I'll try not to make a habit of such huge periods of inactivity - after all, I know how keen (pun very much intended) you all are to read my latest batch of prose, sitting in front of your computer on tenterhooks, hanging on my every word... ahem. OK, maybe not... but I can kid myself, can't I! My blog has new competition in the shape of the latest School Of Cool updates from a Mr. Jesse Quin Esq. - a man who, unlike myself and despite his busy playboy-rockstar schedule, provides updates on an almost-daily basis and manages to be witty, informative (about trainers, music and eclectic fashion) and charming. Hmmm, given my catastrophic lack of style and the notorious tumbleweed effect of my humour, I get the feeling that this is one particular blog battle I'm not going to win*! Nonetheless, for the three regular readers I still have left, I promise to not to leave it so long next time!

Due to the large gap between entries, there's been a few topics out there that have offered potential blog-worthy material. Only a few weeks ago, I pondered writing a blog about how I managed to concoct a new power adapter for my CP70 using a soldering iron (amazingly, I managed it without fifth-degree burns or setting the flat on fire), but I figured that might have pushed my last remaining readers over the edge, leaving them to seek solitude in the kicks haven of the JQ blog. I also considered doing an entry to cover my first experience of the Perfect Symmetry arena tour in Glasgow (complete with a vitriolic attack on the band for not taking me up on that offer of playing A Bad Dream - disgraceful!), or even an entry on the uplifting and almost-spirtual experience^† of the final O2 show of the tour, but I figured that I wouldn't be saying anything that hadn't already been said (much more succinctly!) by others. I had even written up most of an entry about the whole fiasco of the Keane Shop and Trinity Street, but given that the company then went bust a day or two before I planned to publish and people were losing their jobs, it hardly seemed appropriate and I went back to the drawing board. So, after much deliberation and cogitation, I have decided that the first much-delayed blog of 2009 should be regarding today's release of Better Than This as the third (I'm not counting Spiralling as an "official" chart-eligible single) single of the current album campaign.

Now, we've already spoken about the poor sales figures that were garnered by the release of Perfect Symmetry (the song) and the fact that it may not even have charted at all. Whether that was down to a poor radio edit (sorry Tim - it really ripped the heart out of the song!), a glossy-but-ultimately-substance-free video, poor promotion, or the more basic problem of not actually being able to find a copy anywhere, the fact remains that if the most "traditional sounding" Keane track on the album can't make the punters part with their cash, it may then be time for the band and record company to sit down and discuss what they are actually wanting to achieve with singles. It is already apparent that the singles market as a whole has been on a downward spiral for the past couple of years, so in one sense it appears that the band aren't actually that bothered about whether their singles actually score a high chart position anymore (or indeed, any chart position). The album is king, so the goal is to have a successful album that will make people sit up and take notice, thus getting them to come to gigs. However, the fact that they have previously spoken with pride about the album having a load of potential singles (and the fact that they are persisting in releasing another one, even when the previous one died on its feet) is at odds with the assumption that it doesn't matter to them - clearly, they (or at least, their record company) still believe there's value in pursuing the single market.

It is that fact which makes the circumstances of the release for Better Than This seem all the more bizarre to me. The first thing that I find very strange is that the only physical format for the release is 7" vinyl - there's no CD single at all. Now, don't get me wrong... I'm all for the fact that more and more releases nowadays are going back to have a vinyl version - it's probably a generational thing that harks back to my youth, but there is something immensely satisfying about getting an album or song on vinyl. Its the smell, the physicality of the thing and the fact that, if its been mastered well and pressed well, you can get a lovely feeling of analogue warmth from the sound that is difficult to beat. Being realistic though, most singles buyers these days are barely going to have heard of a record player, let alone own one on which to play the single... the notion of setting the correct r.p.m and cueing up the needle correctly over the run-in groove is going to be as alien as computers that use cassette tapes, blokes with mullets or MTV playing music videos. It is therefore difficult to take vinyl as a serious contender in the singles battle... it is purely a collectors item, a novelty to add to one's music collection (and, with my cynical hat on, another way for the record company to extort a bit more cash from hardcore fans). The fact that it is the only physical format you can buy for this single strikes me as border-line insanity... it's an old format that still has its place, but it doesn't make much sense to me to be pushing it onto Joe Bloggs on the high street, who is unlikely to have the hardware to play the thing. Presumably the next single (if there is one) will be released on special, ultra-limited edition reel-to-reel tape! ;)

The other problem faced by singles these days is that people need more of a reason to actually buy one. Blind devotion to a band or artist, such that you'll buy everything they release (in every format they release it in) simply because its got their name on it, is decreasing... artists need to make it worthwhile for someone to spend some cash on a song their fanbase already has on the album. This is where b-sides come into play... if a song has one or two new tracks on it, I'll go out of my way to make sure I buy a copy. Keane have had some great b-sides over the past 5 years (think of songs like Snowed Under, Thin Air and Let It Slide), but since the midway point of the Under The Iron Sea single releases, things seem to have gotten a bit lax. The occasional cover version is fair enough, I can cope with that... but I'm really not a big fan of remixes going on singles as b-sides (it reminds me too much of the Eighties, when it seemed like so many bands were either too lazy or even unable to come up with more than 10 songs, so you padded out singles with remixes or extended versions). Yet, even more bizarrely than the 7" only situation, all we get for Better Than This is a Stuart Price remix! Whilst the remix itself is pleasant enough (if you like that sort of thing), it's hardly pushing boundaries or providing real value (sorry, Stuart).

C'mon guys, you know you can do better than this (boom boom!) - I can't believe that you only had the 11 songs for the album and the 3 we've already heard that didn't make the final cut (My Shadow, Time To Go and Staring At The Ceiling), so why not have taken one or two evenings out around the touring to go into a studio and polish off some of the other songs for b-sides? We're not expecting masterpieces or anything - just some additional material to make it worthwhile for fans to part with their cash in these fiscally-challenged times. You also have a woefully under-utilised songwriting resource in Tom Chaplin... why not give him the opportunity to get some of his songs heard via b-sides? It worked well for the likes of Travis - Dougie Payne honed his songwriting skills on b-sides and then graduated onto writing songs good enough to make the albums. No disrespect to Tim in any way (you already know I think you're a genius, sir!), but I'm in absolutely no doubt that the vast majority of Keane fans would literally bite their local record shop assistant's hand off in order to hear some of Tom's songs. As far as I understand it, he's been writing away for a long time now, but we've still not got to listen to the fruits of his labour... so, if there's not been any time to work up some additional songs, why not give Tom his chance by putting some of that material out there and providing a real incentive to fans to purchase the single?

Basically, what we've ended up with is a single with no b-side of any real note, released on an obsolete format that the majority of potential purchasers won't be able to play, with (apparently) no video and next to no promotion... GENIUS! ;) Actually though, that last bit about no promotion is not entirely accurate - but its not single promotion in the obvious senses, such as plugging the song via TV performances. You see, I believe there is some method to the apparent madness of this release... cardboard 3D glasses. I'm sure you're all more than aware of the band's upcoming live webcast from the legendary Abbey Road Studios on April 2nd. The history of the studios is such the bands always make a big deal if they're going to do anything there, but this is especially the case for Keane... their oft-stated love for The Beatles and the history contained within the four walls of the cavernous studio will make it the latest in a long line of career highlights for them. However, it is the fact that the broadcast is being done in 3D (a world-first) that makes this live session notable and the PR machine has been working overtime to make sure that the event is given maximum publicity - indeed, a quick Google search reveals articles on the webcast from not only music sites such as Q and NME (yeah, I know that calling it a music site was probably an exaggeration, but you get my point), but also in the mainstream media outlets such as ITN, The Press Association and various national newspapers. As stories about bands go, its actually become quite a big deal - and the key to this futuristic 3D webcast is in fact to transport yourself back to the Eighties with a pair of cyan-and-red lens specs. "But where can I get hold of a pair?", I hear you cry... well, in a masterstroke of salesmanship, the easiest way is to get the pair that come free with each copy of the Better Than This 7" single! Thus, my thinking is that the powers-that-be are hoping that the PR buzz generated will mean that lots of people (crucially, including the more casual fans who don't go on the website or messageboard) go out and buy the single, not for the song itself (after all, we've already ascertained that its basically on a dead format and has no b-sides or video to propel it under its own steam) but because it is merely a conveniently-sized delivery vehicle that will allow them to watch the band break new technological ground. If enough people do it, a chart position might come along as a welcomed side-effect... so maybe, in a roundabout sort of way, there is some element of genius at work after all!

Having said all that though, I'm still disappointed by this release: my view is that you should either take the single seriously and do it properly (with a full promo schedule, video and marketing, released on sensible formats with bonus tracks to provide a sweetener to your fan-base), or don't bother with it at all. From where I'm sitting (on the sofa in my living room, with Bell X1 on in the background), this just seems like a means to an end, a lazy release that is ultimately nothing more than a way of charging for a pair of flimsy, retro 3D glasses. That's a big shame, as the message behind Better Than This is one that is all-too-valid in today's celebrity-driven, fame-obsessed world - if the drive had been there to do the single properly, it would potentially have been a real winner. I hope that the webcast does achieve all that they're hoping for, and I'll still definitely be tuning in and I'll enjoy it... but it just seems like a shame that the song is being treated as no more than a side-issue to it all.

Right, that's enough cynicism for one day! In the meantime, I'm off for a tinker around with the CP70. Apologies again for taking so long to get back up-and-running here - I'll promise not to leave another two months before I next update the site! Oh yeah... I've followed the herd and signed up to Twitter, so you can always stop by there and follow me to find out what randomness goes through my mind on a daily basis - check it out at http://www.twitter.com/MartMcD. Later!