With their previous single, “Ozymandias,” we took Shelley’s advice and “looked on their works, ye mighty and…” well, rejoiced at its cool blends of infectious rock and groovesome pop, actually. This time out, Split Second takes a slightly different route through the pop-rock borderlands, one that sees them reinvent the oft-maligned power ballad for the modern audience.
“Addicted to Love” does all the things that you would expect from such a form—it ebbs and flows between understatement and crescendo, plays with a deft and delicate dynamic, and proves that the mid-pace delivery, when delivered with poise and purpose, is every bit as potent as the ambient or the explosive.
But it manages to make things sound fresh, too, and it seems to do this by heightening expectations. The riffs that drive the verses cascade in fluid fascination before exploding in more aggressive punch. The vocals are demure initially but balance this subtlety with sky-searing deliveries. The beat and bass line mark time, but only until they are needed to ignite the sonic blue touch paper. When compared to such songs that have preceded it in the musical canon, it is broader, deeper, bigger, more dynamic, more….well, just more.
Split Second proves that just because such a form has been marred and murdered by earlier and lesser bands doesn’t mean that it can’t be rescued. “Addicted to Love is Split Second throwing the power ballad a lifeline and then, once they have got it safely to shore, giving it a makeover and a new sense of confidence.
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