1999 Westlife: If I Let You Go

When considering boybands, the usual pithy comment/complaint that emerges is that they're interchangeable and 'all sound the same'. I have some sympathy with this, largely because it's true, but to date at least Westlife have bucked the trend by offering up something a bit different than the usual same old. Different for boybands anyway - first number one 'Swear It Again' was a dense slab of Wagnerian handwringing, and though 'If I let You Go' takes a step back from that angsty abyss, it doesn't take a huge one; the choppy indie-like opening gives way to another mini Meat Loaf blast of histrionics as the guys agonise over weighing in the balance whether a long distance relationship or unrequited love from afar is worth the candle. One of those two anyway - the exact meaning of 'If I Let You Go' is obscure save a general idea that there are some tough choices to be made in the name of love. Or maybe even more - does the "And once again I´m thinking about taking the easy way out" refer to suicide I wonder?

Probably not, but it all adds to the weighty pot that's been Westlife's stock in trade to date, the sound of a band walking the line between pop bunnies and rock pigs and unsure of which side of it to fall. 'If I Let You Go' is a mini operetta of a song, one that seems more suited as a linking narrative of a show and it's something I can easily imagine a Bon Jovi or a Bryan Adams cranking out in a stadium. Five more of either of that pair is hardly what the world is waiting for then or now, but what would be predictability personified in their hands becomes a slightly more interesting proposition in West. Only slightly mind - for all its fancy pants production and huge key changes, 'If I Let You Go' is still MOR/AOR fayre that gets dull very, very quickly.