This one should go cold

Best song on an otherwise crap album: The Concretes - Fiction

That's a little unfair, because 'Sunbeams' was also pretty good. But honestly, wasn't 'In Colour' a terrible album? The first song is called 'On the Radio' and sets the bar suitably low. We stay in unfocused, mid-tempo purgatory limbo for the best part of the album's forty-five minutes. After their self-titled album, which was so affecting and pretty, I had high hopes for this badboy, but it just grates. Even when the horns and backing harmonies work, like on 'Chosen One', Victoria's detached vocals (which really worked on older songs) just sound bored. Not really a shock that she left the band earlier this year. A duet with Romeo from The Magic Numbers (whose 'Take A Chance' was an outsider choice for this award) sees the band hit an all time nadir. So enjoy 'Fiction', six minutes of - get this! - dynamics and interest.

[download The Concretes - Fiction]