There Will Be Fireworks: Youngblood

I've only listened to it four times (in quick succession) and already I love this track. Youngblood is the new single by There Will Be Fireworks: I know, two songs called Young Blood in as many days feels a little excessive, especially when there are already several good songs with those words in the title^[1]. The video is simply stunning, and actually contains something resembling a narrative and not just a collection of pretty pictures, and sonically – well, just listen to it! I'm smitten. So much so that all I want to do right now is download the single and pre-order the vinyl LP.

So why can't I do either of those things!?!

Bands have to work really hard to build interest in a record, and teasers and previews are part-and-parcel of that process. In many ways There Will Be Fireworks have done exactly what a band whipping up hype could hope to; I want to buy this record, and will do so as soon as I'm able, and I'm telling others how great I think this record is. But to be honest this situation makes me furious. Maybe There Will Be Fireworks are hoping this single will chart, but I don't for a second think it will, so the idea of saving up all the potential single-sales until some meaningless ‘release date’ is just frustrating. They've released the video and I've heard the song, so why the hell can't I buy it yet?

What they have deigned to give us is a pre-order link to a useless piece of plastic. I myself don't own a CD player anymore, but I'm willing to concede that pressing vinyl is a costly and largely un-lucrative step for a band to take. I'd love to have it, but not being able to buy it doesn't make me angry. Not being able to download the single (through iTunes ideally, but any way of paying for and getting the mp3 would be fine) just smacks of stupidity. I'm often quite fickle, I may not love this track so much whenever it is finally released; the window for purchase is very short.

Having a release date for a physical product makes perfect sense, but why oh why do we cling to that idea when it comes to digital ‘releases’? If I can hear it on YouTube I can rip it to mp3, but that's a hassle and I'd much rather give them my money. Youngblood is a fantastic song. The last time I instantly liked a song this much was when Daughter released Human. In that case I was able to buy the single instantly, and pre-ordered the vinyl LP within minutes of having heard the track. God knows why There Will Be Fireworks won't let me do this; my suspicion is that they're idiots.