A New Era Of Courteeners: Courteeners – ‘Pink Cactus Café’ Review

Words: Ryan Redwood

Courteeners have just released the second single and title track from the upcoming seventh studio album ‘Pink Cactus Café’. In a recent interview with Radio X, Liam Fray described the ‘Pink Cactus Café’ as being “A place over there somewhere, where you’d want to escape too” and this definitely comes across in the lyrics, specifically in the chorus with the end line ‘I need a rendevouz’ which automatically makes you think about a place you’d rather be. Musically however, the track is quite an uplifting journey which seems full of hope.

Personally, I am really enjoying this continuation of using whistling as a tool for melodies, we had a small taste of this during the chorus of ‘Solitude of the Night Bus’ which left me wanting more so I am glad we’ve got a complete ‘whistle melody’ if you like in ‘Pink Cactus Café’. I’m definitely enjoying this new era of Courteeners so far (especially the artwork) and it’s got me very curious to see what the collaborative tracks sound like with the likes of Brooke Combe, DMAs and Pixey all coming into the fold. Some people on Social Media have said this new sound is a bit ‘poppy’ but I think it’s hard to judge that based on what we’ve heard so far.

Singles for albums are usually the more commercially accepted songs in order to draw new potential listeners in so I’m going to wait till I hear the whole album before I pass that judgement. For me, ‘Pink Cactus Café’ is a very enjoyable listen, it’s got me excited to hear the rest of the record and that’s exactly what a single should do before the release of an album.