At long last, Spector have returned. After over two years since their debut, Enjoy It While It Lasts, Spector have launched their newest single, “Don’t Make Me Try,” which is absolutely swarming with lust and heartache. After the departure of guitarist and fellow former Les Incompétents member Chris Burman, “Don’t Make Me Try” is a sneak peak of the band’s progression since, and of their still detail-less second album produced by Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes.
Synths swoon over an enthusiastic drumbeat while frontman Fred Macpherson yearns “don’t make me try / not in front of them”, foregrounding that lust fuelled anguish. This four-piece have certainly conquered the thunder and are now wallowing in the mellowness of their new found sound, yet the distinctive indie-pop party that Spector have attached proudly to their name, lingers nostalgically. Arguably significantly darker and less tempestuous than early singles “Chevy Thunder” and “Friday Night, Don’t Ever Let It End”, “Don’t Make Me Try” emits warmth through Macpherson’s quite idiosyncratic vocals in emphasised emotive yet clichéd lyrics such as “I miss you” and “I love you” to a yet unnamed individual. However, let us not forget what a brilliant lyricist Macpherson has proved to be from their debut with lines such as “Girl I know we’re stuck but let’s move at our own pace / heard he was your rock, does that make me your hard place?”. “Don’t Make Me Try”, along with its natural clichés, treats us with classic Macpherson wit in the lyric “I meant every single word I didn’t say”, and the reference to a “chevy”, which will obviously be a pleaser for those veterinary Spector fans.
Not dramatically dissimilar to tracks on Enjoy It While It Lasts, but a comfortable change has stirred in London’s newly four-pieced group. It’s early days, but from newest darker single “Don’t Make Me Try” along with a sneak peak demo release of an equally melancholic yet chronically upbeat track “Decade of Decay” published on YouTube via Spector in summer 2013, I can only predict that album two will be alive with synths that float in your eardrums incessantly and lyrics with an underlying darkness. Keep your eyes and ears peeled because when this one lands, it will be a big one.