After what seemed like an eternity, English pop rock duo The Ting Tings are BACK with a hot new single and an equally hot new music video. It’s been over a year since Jules De Martino (drums, lead guitar, bass guitar, vocals, piano) and Katie White (vocals, guitar, bass drums, bass guitar, and cow bells) dropped the first single off their highly anticipated sophomore album, the Calvin Harris-produced “Hands.” New single “Hang It Up” has the band returning to the more familiar sounds of their 2008 debut album, We Started Nothing and I have to say, I’m only a little bit disappointed.
Why only a little? While “Hands” didn’t exactly ignite the charts back in September of 2010 (it peaked at #29 in the UK) it teased of a decidedly new dance/pop direction for the band, whose sound previously only dabbled in electronica. Nearly all of The Ting Tings‘ singles have been remixed for the clubs, hell, “Hands” even went #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart, but a whole album of Ting Tings infused dance pop? The gay in me was practically salivating onto my keyboard!
Cut to…a year later and nary a peep from the Ting Tings, aside from sporadic updates via Twitter and on Facebook. Hmmm. Clearly “Hands” didn’t do what it needed to do so now here we are a year later and the band has all new material. I totally get that the Tings (and undoubtedly, their label) are being cautious. Hello! It’s been nearly three years since the band’s first album came out. That’s a long time! Suffering from the oft dreaded sophomore slump at this stage in their career, with only one album under their belt, could be detrimental (quite possibly, an exaggeration)! “Hang It Up” isn’t a bad comeback, in fact it’s quite catchy. Call it “Shut Up and Let Me Go” Part 2, if you will. It’s got Katie’s trademark shouty bits PLUS a nice little solo bit for Jules, and plenty of their trademark manic spunk but it’s not really too drastically different. “Hands” was different, “Hang It Up” reverts back to the band’s SAFE place, the same place that earned them a spot in a prominent iPod commercial back in April 2008. All disappointment aside, the song is solid. For fans who didn’t latch onto “Hands,” “Hang It Up” picks up nicely where We Started Nothing left off.
Speaking of We Started Nothing – WOW. What a solid pop album. I’ve said before that We Started Nothing is honestly an album I can rinse, wash and repeat – over and over again. Every song is listenable and every beat is danceable. Upon it’s initial release in Europe, We Started Nothing debuted at #1 on the UK Album Charts, spawning two top ten hits, (including the #1 hit single “That’s Not My Name“) and two top 40 singles (“Great DJ,” and “Be The One“). Over in the U.S. the Tings also had a good amount of success, thanks in large part to “Shut Up and Let Me Go” being featured in an Apple iPod commercial (that’s where I first heard them!). When their album was released in July it managed to peak at #78 on the Billboard 200, #7 on the U.S. Heatseekers Albums chart and #8 on the Indie Albums chart. Only two of the band’s singles managed to impact the Billboard Hot 100 (“That’s Not My Name – #32, “Shut Up and Let Me Go” – #34) with their 2010 single “Hands” peaking at #1 on the dance charts. The band’s first official single – “Fruit Machine” was released only as a limited 500-copy run and did not chart, while the band’s final single “We Walk” peaked at #58. A pretty impressive start to a promising career. Let’s hope the band picks up momentum as we FINALLY get closer to the release of their follow up effort.
While touring in Europe this past summer, The Ting Tings have been treating crowds to fan favorites as well as new tunes like “Hang It Up.” One of the other new tunes the band has been previewing, “Silence,” looks to be the next single and what’s more,!? We have another music video comin right up, at least if the band’s most recent Facebook posts are to be believed. On Tuesday the Katie teased via the band’s official Facebook page “we will have another song and video out before the end of this month.” Chances are it’s the complementary video to “Silence,” which the band Tweeted about filming back in July. As for the album (the band’s second with Columbia/Sony Music), it was originally slated to come out in the Fall, but looks to be pushed back to January. While we’re waiting, let’s have a look at the colorful and fun new video for “Hang It Up,” filmed in Alicante, Spain and directed by The Ting Tings with Dan Gable. Check out The Ting Tings U.S. iTunes store HERE.
Check out The Ting Tings on the web: