Placebo releases first single in five years, “Beautiful James”
Placebo has announced their first new single in five years. Listen to “Beautiful James” here via Record rise in the USA
Over more than 25 years and over 13 million albums sold, Placebo has proven itself to be a master at cataloging the human condition. The group’s unique way of examining both their flaws and their beauty has long made them a haven for those who thought the traps of tradition and the mainstream were just that – a trap. Placebo continues to shed light on aspects of our society that are too often viewed by some with skepticism at best and hatred at worst.
It was then with a certain poignant touch that the new single “Beautiful James” arrived, finding himself born into a world as divided as it has ever been. Amidst the breakdown of global relations, unchallenged online abuse, and widespread fear among narrow minds of what they cannot comprehend, “Beautiful James” brings a defiant message that seeks to normalize and celebrate. non-heteronormative relationships in song.
Brian Molko further comments on the release of “Beautiful James”:
“If the song serves to irritate the squares and the tense, too bad. But it remains imperative for me that each listener uncovers their own personal story – I really don’t want to tell you how you feel.
Created through the death knell of insomnia, the group turned their creative process upside down to bring “Beautiful James” to life. It meant approaching their work together in a new way, which began first with photographic images and a song title that evoked a certain feeling – long before the music was written. The resulting song is as powerful as it is tender – a decidedly provocative and ultimately necessary work of art.
“Beautiful James” is not a controversy, or even a conversation. It’s a statement – a statement as clear and bold as ever.
Listen to “Beautiful James” on the DSPs here and watch the visualizer below.
Learn more about Placebo
Placebo are one of the most successful alternative rock groups of the past 25 years, with 13 million albums sold worldwide to date. The band’s self-titled debut album helped pave the way for a radical change in British music, acting as an antithesis to Britpop and inspiring a generation of bands to follow them. Placebo went on to claim their place in British music history with five top ten UK albums, collaborating with music legends including David Bowie, Robert Smith and Michael Stipe. The group has performed sold-out tours and festival slots across the world.
In 1996, when the UK was saturated with Britpop, Placebo was a psycho-sexual monster with ambiguous sexuality (and, to the casual observer, gender). They were only two years after their first gig (The Rock Garden, January 1995) and 12 months after their first single (“Bruise Pristine”) when they released career-defining “Nancy Boy” and achieved platinum status. with their critically acclaimed namesake. first album.
Two years after their debut, and at a time when stage lad rock reigned, Placebo was a lonely beacon of narcotic glamor – hanging out with Bowie – and making cameos in the Todd Haynes-directed film “Velvet Goldmine.” Placebo’s dark and seductive second album, “Sans toi, je suis rien” has sold over a million copies. The album featured the Top 5 single “Pure Morning” and the iconic “Every You Every Me”. The album’s campaign culminated when Placebo performed “20th Century Boy” live with David Bowie at the BRIT Awards in 1999.
In 2000, Blondie’s triumphant speckled electro punk pop from the third album ‘Black Market Music’ was released. Placebo’s devotees were legion on every continent and placed ‘Taste In Men’, ‘Slave To The Wage’ and the controversial drug referring to ‘Special K’ in the Top 20 in the UK and overseas. .
Placebo’s fourth album, “Sleeping With Ghosts”, released in 2003, achieved double Platinum status in France, Platinum in Germany and Gold in the UK. He was in the Top 20 in sixteen countries, boosted by the album’s first single, “The Bitter End”. This was followed by another defining moment with a sold-out show at Bercy in Paris in front of 18,000 people in November 2003. The show was filmed and released as the first official live DVD, “Soulmates Never Die (Live in Paris) “, and continued. to become Virgin Records’ best-selling live rock DVD in 2004.
“Meds”, Placebo’s fifth album, followed in 2006 and sold over 1.1 million copies worldwide and achieved Platinum status in Germany and France and Gold status in the UK. United. The biggest moment in the band’s career came that year, when they were headlining the Rock Am Ring in Germany and upholding the group’s status as the festival’s regular headliner. global. Another highlight in France were two sold-out evenings in Paris at Bercy, in front of more than 36,000 people.
Recorded in three months with producer Dave Bottrill, Placebo’s sixth studio album, “Battle For The Sun”, was released in June 2009. The record was a surprising, lively, vital record that marked a whole new era for the world. group. They reached the top spot for 2 weeks on the European billboard ranking, placed first in the charts in 10 countries and in the Top 5 in another 20. At the MTV European Music Awards 2009, they won the award for best alternative, consolidating their position as one of the world’s premier live rock bands.
‘Loud Like Love’ was the band’s seventh studio album, produced by Adam Noble, in 2013 and saw the band tour the world continuously, performing to over a million people across Australia, Latin America. , North America, Europe and Asia, including a ten date tour of Russia that was documented and spawned the documentary ‘Alt Russia’, which won 5 awards at the Film Festival.
Placebo celebrated their incredible 20 years as a band with the release of a retrospective hit album ‘A Place For Us To Dream’ on October 7, 2016, and new music in the form of an EP ‘Life’s What You. Make It ‘with 6 new tracks, including the singles’ Jesus ‘Son’ and the Talk Talk cover ‘Life’s What You Make It’.
A huge “20 Years of Placebo” world tour followed shortly after release and continued throughout 2017.
Fast forward to 2021, the band completed their 8th studio album and now have new music on the horizon.
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