Life's What You Make It is an EP by the English alternative rock band Placebo, released on 7 October 2016.[1][2] It includes three cover songs (Talk Talk's "Life's What You Make It", Rowland S. Howard's "Autoluminescent" and Freak Power's "Song #6"), as well as the 2016 single "Jesus' Son" and two live recordings of "Twenty Years".
| Life's What You Make It | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| EP by | ||||
| Released | 7 October 2016 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Placebo chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
editSinger Brian Molko told The Independent that Placebo decided to cover "Life's What You Make It" because it's a 1980s song that the band still enjoys.[3] In an interview with NME, he stated: "Our last single 'Jesus Son' and the Talk Talk cover 'Life Is What You Make It' are possibly two of the most commercial tracks that we've ever done. What we have a tendency to do it react allergically against what we’ve just done, so it's highly likely that the next thing we do will be something akin to career suicide."[4]
A music video, directed by Sasha Rainbow, was released in June 2017. It was filmed at Agbogbloshie in Accra, Ghana, the site of one of the world's largest electronic waste dumps.[5][6] Despite the film's setting, Molko explained: "The video is not anti-technology. It is about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity that has not been chosen."[7]
Release
editThe EP was released on 12" black vinyl, 12" springtime green vinyl and digital download.[1]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Placebo (Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal), except as noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Life's What You Make It" (Talk Talk cover) | Mark Hollis | 5:18 |
| 2. | "Jesus' Son" | 3:37 | |
| 3. | "Twenty Years" (live at Europavox Festival 2015) | 4:36 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Autoluminescent" (Rowland S. Howard cover) | Rowland S. Howard | 3:40 |
| 2. | "Twenty Years" (piano version live at Evening Urgant, Moscow 2016) | 4:22 | |
| 3. | "Song #6" (Freak Power cover) | Ashley Slater | 4:27 |
Charts
edit| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[8] | 153 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[9] | 66 |
References
edit- ^ a b "Life's What You Make It". placeboworld.co.uk. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
- ^ "Placebo Announce 'Retrospective Album' and New EP". diymag.com. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- ^ Hooton, Christopher (2 June 2017). "Watch the powerful music video for Placebo's poignant 'Life's What You Make It' cover". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ Trendell, Andrew (5 October 2017). "Placebo Discuss the Impact of David Bowie's Death and Progress on 'Career-Suicide' New Album – NME". NME. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ Chrzanowski, David (15 June 2017). "'Life's What You Make It' by Placebo (Single)". Songwriting. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ Munro, Scott (5 June 2017). "Placebo return with new video and UK tour". Teamrock.com. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ Marszalek, Julian (5 June 2017). "Placebo announce autumn tour and share new video". Gigwise. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Placebo – Life's What You Make It %5BEP%5D" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Placebo – Life's What You Make It %5BEP%5D" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 October 2016.