“I Liked You Better When You Needed Me” is the latest track to be lifted off the upcoming debut album from Glasgow-based WHITE. It is equal parts dispassionate and vulnerable. Its musical backbone is a pulsing guitar, gritty and unrepentant, and the song deals with the fallout that comes from realizing how empty the game of love can be.
“I liked you better when you needed me, we connect better when we’re far away,” singer Leo Condie moans, accompanied by percussive touches that fade out into the echoing grandiosity of the song. My favorite moment comes at the end when the relentless guitar tapers off and Condie’s voice dominates for a moment, humming aimlessly to himself. This lasts only a few seconds before the track dissolves into silence but it is symptomatic of the discomfort that lies at the center of this song – one all too familiar to anyone who has experienced romantic disaffection.