Album Review

Were it not for some strategic placement of their song “Chasing Cars” in an episode of Gray’s Anatomy, the Scottish band Snow Patrol might be just another huge group in the United Kingdom that’s still waiting in the queue to break it big in the U.S. But McDreamy and co. provided the perfect setting for the band’s earnest anthem, and suddenly Snow Patrol is multi-platinum on both sides of the pond.

All that serves to raise the expectation level for the band’s newest release, A Hundred Million Suns. But give them credit for not making an obvious concession to their big smash single; the fact that SP had plenty of success overseas long before “Chasing Cars” means that they have enough confidence in their formula to hew closely to it and not overtly try for another shot-in-the-dark hit song. If it happens again, fine, but Snow Patrol, who’ve been knocking around in various incarnations since the 90’s, will be all right as long as they keep producing their brand of accessible but not dumbed-down mid-tempo rock.

In that regard, A Hundred Million Suns doesn’t disappoint. The obvious comparison is U2. Producer Jackknife Lee has been with Snow Patrol for the past few albums and was also at the helm of U2’s last album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Lee and SP understand the value of variety on a song-to-song basis, as long as those various sounds eventually unfold into big, clear choruses that hold down the center.

That template rarely changes no matter the subject of a particular song. “Crack The Shutters,” the closest thing to a “Chasing Cars”-type crowd-pleaser, builds from tinkling piano to a bouyant refrain as singer Gary Lightbody celebrates the subtle joys of being in bed with his lover. It’s like a less-icky “Your Body Is A Wonderland.” But the band hangs a similarly gigantic chorus on the break-up lament “If There’s A Rocket To It,” which makes the separation sound positively glorious.

At least the music does anyway. Lightbody tends to sing from a distance, as if he was a dispassionate observer rather than a participant in the songs. Sometimes it’s hard not to wish for a little bit of a Bonoesque vocal flourish here and there, but Lightbody stays restrained and lets his band draw out the emotion, even when he’s going for the heart with big lines like “I don’t want to run/Just overwhelm me.”

That approach works particularly well on “Please Just Take These Photos From My Hands,” in which the singer is like an anthropologist sifting through the detritus of a failed relationship (“When all this actual life played out/Where the hell on earth was I?”), and “Set Down Your Glass,” an achingly pretty ballad with a melody so strong that it needs little embellishment. These two songs absolutely shimmer and are the high points of a very consistent album.

Lightbody’s lyrics can at times be too smart for their own good. And sometimes ambition gets in the band’s way. “Engines” feels like an attempt at Radiohead-type clatter but doesn’t come together. And the 16-minute closing song suite “The Lightning Strike” features a great opening part and 10 dull minutes afterward.

Overall, A Hundred Million Suns should go a long way to silencing those who see Snow Patrol as benefciaries of a lucky break. The ironic thing would be if this album is overlooked just because if fails to provide adequate accompaniment for oversexed doctors.

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