Kasabian – Superpowers Review

Kasabian release a new single? Mouth releases further vomit after dribbling out Act III announcement. Good God, man. Nostalgia is an evil beast trying to pull you from the road less-travelled. It’s not travelled less because of danger, but because the routine we find ourselves in often lends itself to the same music. Listening to Allbarone and Murder on the Dancefloor at the gym is pattern recognition. Feeling unwell may well remind you of Kasabian, or at least reminiscing about half-remembered university days may too make you think of the Serge Pizzorno-fronted band. They made a mess of their first post-Tom Meighan album, though they weren’t all that great a group with him, either. They’re better off without him, but the replacement of one middle-aged frontman with another merely proves these are pub karaoke tunes at best. Superpowers can barely get to that level, scant it is of actual power, irrespective of its super nature.  

The worst part about reviewing Kasabian singles is it then shows up in your recently played feed. Qobuz is going to recommend Act III as if there’d been a second of enjoyment to be had from these three songs. The band has never quite adapted to having a post-lad culture, Soccer AM image and it’s starting to show that much worse with efforts like Superpowers. Pizzorno fancies himself an everyman instrumentalist but is being pulled in so many different directions he doesn’t sound as though he has a message he’s willing to back. Repeating the title of the track and never revealing who it is that makes him feel so super, or even suggesting that there is a person behind that momentum, is embarrassing work. Superpowers leave all the details up to the listener without even a notion that it could be about someone else. A rudimentary read would be this is a drugs song, given the effects of these titular powers aren’t long-lasting. But that is to impose an idea and the heavy lifting should be at least a team effort, if not more a burden for the songwriter here to carry.  

Pizzorno and the band has no interest in any sort of carrying. A grating instrumental with electronic filler and unconvincing beat is the best you’ll get from this piece from Kasabian. The band has since delayed the release of Act III and we can only assume it’s because they’re at least a little embarrassed about this work. “I’m a misfit,” is a bold line for a band whose work has fit in exactly with whatever the so-called indie pop and rock genre has called for. They are servants to the genre and thus do not stand out. They are the antithesis of misfits no matter how many unconvincing electronic elements they add to their latest dribbles of work. Superpowers isn’t even worth getting all that worked up about. It’s the sort of passive filth you can expect from a band with enough hits to fill their setlist but need an excuse to perform shows.  

Superpowers and Act III is more a pretence for a reason to tour, rather than a necessity. It’s hardly as though these songs, as was the case for tracks from Happenings, are going to linger in the set. Sometimes a song or album doesn’t have the staying power, and that’s fine enough. Artists should keep going and pushing for those new elements of their sound. But when they’re caught in a corner the only place to go is forwards, not further back and away from new influences. All that has happened here is Pizzorno has dusted off a new setting on his keyboard and thought, “That’ll do.” But it won’t do. Kasabian fans are hardly clawing for deep reads on the human condition but even those wanting an anthemic escape will be disappointed by this middle-of-the-road filler. This is a single meant to excite, not a warning light flashing on the ever-sinking ship.