Hard-Fi: 'Better Do Better'

Better Do Better, Hard-Fi’s fifth single release from last year’s debut album Stars of CCTV, is a magnificent break-up anthem.

Lyrically and thematically, it's a kind of twisted, more vulnerable take on I Will Survive (So you think you'll come round here / Start singing in my ear / Girl you damaged me, I don't forgive so easily / You better do better than that), whilst musically it showcases the band’s penchant for a number of different styles.

The acoustic verse is soft with an infectious riff and an atmosphere comparable to The Clash when they were in a ska mood, whilst the string-backed choruses (again, Gloria Gaynor springs to mind) is more reminiscent of an Embrace stadium pleaser with some brass thrown in for good measure as singer Richard Archer spurns a former lover’s attempts at reconciliation.

Presumably the last single from the band’s impressive debut, Better Do Better is a dance-friendly live favourite. Relatively soft compared to the likes of Living for the Weekend or Hard to Beat, the song is angry and uplifting all at once.