take a peek at white lies' ritual

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London's White Lies arrived with some fanfare back in 2009 with To Lose My Life debuting at #1 on the UK album chart. They didn't make that much of a dent in the US, but some headway was made with an NME sponsored North American tour with Friendly Fires, as well as appearances at Coachella, Lollapalooza and South By Southwest.

Often compared to Interpol and Editors, White Lies were earnest if generic. Sort of an English version of Neon Trees.

Next week they return with sophomore release Ritual. With a bigger budget and more to prove, it's a stylistic leap from To Lose My Life. Gone are the disco basslines and the arrangements are now significantly more synth heavy.

Frontman Harry McVeigh still goes for the dramatic though, as you can see on album opener "Is Love":




The improved production is evident with the layered sound and impressive heights of "Holy Ghost":




"Turn The Bells" might be the most ambitious track on the album. It's interesting despite being a little heavy handed:




Released in November, the album's first single was "Bigger Than Us." As you can see here, and we mentioned back then, the video is senselessly strange:




While probably too expected for some, Ritual should certainly raise the profile of White Lies here in the states. Who knows, maybe they'll even get to live the Kings Of Leon crossover dream.