Snow Patrol swerves in a new direction

Album: Late Night Tales

Artist: Snow Patrol

Record Label: Azuli Records

Rocks like:… Album: Late Night Tales

Artist: Snow Patrol

Record Label: Azuli Records

Rocks like: Tiesto

When you think of Snow Patrol, you mostly think of soft ballads and poetic exclamations of love, but you never really consider it for your Friday-night iTunes playlist. Now you will.

Late Night Tales has the members of Snow Patrol trying their hands at DJ-ing, and they happen to do a fantastic job. An electronica-style mix album featuring a wide range of artists, Late Night Tales is erratic, melodic and unforgettable. “Midnight with a Tribe Called Quest” is the most laid-back track on the compilation — with a minimalist beat and slick lyrical delivery, it’s the perfect head-bopping song.

“Hold On” is all thump. “Holy Ghost!” belts out the chorus (“Hold on! And hold tight!”) over a shadowy piano loop. Upon first listen, it’s evident that if dance itself was a song, it would sound like this.

The only moments where Late Night Tales falls short is where it attempts to slow down. Though not cohesive in the class sense, most of the tracks seem to blend seamlessly into one another — or they would if certain mishaps had been left off the final cut.

Oddly enough, Snow Patrol’ss INXS cover, “New Sensation,” is one of them, and Miracle Fortress’s “Next Train” is the other. Though solid tracks on their own, they sound awkward on such a high-energy compilation.

Snow Patrol always made great music, but with this album, it proved it’s capable of making excellent music. Even if it has to exchange epic ballads for club mixes again on its next effort, here’s to hoping it continues in this direction.