The band sounds invigorated by the hiatus, or maybe inspired by Paul’s success as a solo artist, either way Survival Expert is their most affecting and (dare I say) relevant single in a good long while. It opens with a stuttering synth sound, a slapping beat and Paul singing in an anaesthetised, double-tracked falsetto. There’s a distance to it, as though Paul has absorbed the muted emotional palette of his adopted home of Brooklyn, NY. But then, the chorus, introduced with careful, creeping piano notes, lifts and drops you in that familiar hothouse of earnest, anguished urgency – the place where all Something For Kate fans so desperately love to be. The stuff that is different is the stuff that is most interesting. Any difference at all, after 15 odd years, is impressive.
Something For Kate : Survival Expert
