The Afghan Whigs have never been particularly interested in keeping things simple. Even at their loudest, something soulful and bruised has always lived beneath the guitars, and “Loose Talk,” the latest focus track from the band’s new album Soft Control, is a perfect example. “Loose Talk” finds the Whigs doing what they have spent four decades doing so well: smashing rock, soul and R&B together until the seams disappear.
Watch “Loose Talk”
The Afghan Whigs’ R&B and soul influences are constantly pushing through the distortion, giving the song a groove beneath its darker exterior. It’s muscular without being mindless, and reflective without becoming soft. That balance is one of the defining characteristics of Soft Control. “Loose Talk” is the ninth song on Soft Control, a deliberately tight 10-track album that runs just 37 minutes. The band actually recorded 22 songs during sessions at Fireside Sound in Joshua Tree, Marigny Studios in New Orleans, Gold Diggers Sound in East Hollywood and Sycamore in Cincinnati. Several tracks were ultimately left off because they didn’t fit the streamlined shape of the final record.
After more than 40 years, there is something quietly impressive about a band still finding new ways to sound like itself. That’s what makes Soft Control feel less like an exercise in nostalgia and more like another chapter. “Loose Talk” may carry the familiar Afghan Whigs fingerprints: It sounds like a band looking at everything it has been through and deciding there’s still plenty worth saying. For a band with four decades of history behind it, the Afghan Whigs don’t sound particularly interested in looking backward. On “Loose Talk,” they sound alive, restless and just a little dangerous, which, frankly, is exactly where the Whigs have always sounded best.
Soft Control is out now via Royal Cream/BMG.
Photo Credit: Brett Padelford
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