Love Amongst Ruin

Pouring his confusion and frustration over being unexpectedly removed from the drum stool of Placebo in 2007 into the eponymous 2010 debut album of his own project Love Amongst Ruin, Steve Hewitt lived through an emancipating process, a mission to prove his musical worth not just to the legions of Placebo fans avidly waiting to see what he'd do next but also to himself. The succinct yet wide-reaching 'Love Amongst Ruin', with it's twists of New Order/Depeche Mode electronica, Can/Kasabian motorika, Cure atmospherics and hardcore Metallica riffs, firmly positioned him as an alt-rock contender in his own right. The title track of the brand new LAR new album 'Lose Your Way' is a dark, confident slab of rock noir at its finest, whereas 'Menace Ballad' brings a swarm of psychedelic intrigue to a track that will win over fans of experimental post-rock. It's an album that embraces finely wrought atmospheres and artfully coiled emotion on the lush Cure melancholy and loss of 'Oh God', 'Watch Myself' and 'Paper Tigers', as well as the flamethrower fuzzrock of 'Swan Killer'.