Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid. Album Review

Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid

I guess it's not often you can say that perfection is reached. No matter how hard a band works on an album, critics will always be able to pick holes with their work. But, not that I'm looking for something to dislike about this record, I'm unable to find anything that anyone could pick fault with.
From it's opening track "Starlings", Elbow's latest album, "The Seldom Seen Kid", portrays the kind of excellence in song writing, structure and production anyone familiar with Elbow's previous ventures would expect to hear. Only, this time there seems to be an extra-special polish to the production. Trawling through the inner sleeve liner notes I came across this little piece of text, apparently the album has been recorded using something called TurnMeUp™ technology, stating, and I quote, 'To preserve the excitement, emotion and dynamics of the original performances this recording is intentionally quieter than some. for full enjoyment simply Turn Me Up!'
So I did, and, by jove, my ears have never been happier! I can only describe this experience by likening it to an aural massage for your soul. I don't want to get all new age or hippie on you, but if this album doesn't reach in and touch every part of your fibre, raise every hair on your neck and mist up your eyes, I can only suggest you take a course in yoga or visit one of those special retreats and get back in touch with that part of you that governs your emotions as yours clearly don't work.
There is a definite sense of a narrative to this album, almost as though I'm listening to a 21st century version of The Who's "Tommy", the only difference being that unlike most Rock Opera's, usually the overall quality of the music suffers due to the composers writing to a story as opposed to what they usually do best, which is writing good stand alone Pop songs. Here however, whether mastermind Guy Garvey has purposefully set out to write these songs with a narrative structure in place or not, any one of these pieces stands alone as a fantastic work of musical art. The emotion that oozes from every pore of every song is in such abundance that you almost forget that you're listening to a contemporary British band, and become lost in the mist of another world. This is quite simply a masterpiece, a tour de force for British alternative music.
Elbow have never been a big act in this country, and this album, however good it is will probably not catapult them in to the stratosphere alongside other mainstream acts. But I don't think any of the members will be losing any sleep over this. Elbow are the kind of band you'd expect to see on the second stage at Glastonbury, late afternoon on the Saturday, just as the sun starts to creep towards the hills and this is where they belong. Yes, it would be fabulous to see them headline the Pyramid stage, and yes, they would own that slot, especially with songs such as "Grounds For Divorce" or "Any Day Now" from their earlier album "Asleep At The Back", but It would be overkill for what they do. Their sound and talent isn't music for the masses in the way bands like Kasabian and the Killers or Franz Ferdinand are. They are almost a connoisseurs band, the kind of band people say "If you like good music, you'll love these guys" about. That is not to say that their music isn't accessible to the average joe public, but that the more you appreciate good music, clever song writing, inspired lyrics, colour and timbre of tones and harmony and ingenious production techniques, the more you will fall in love with this band and especially this album.
There is an incredibly delicate softness to the songs, even with songs such as the afore mentioned "Grounds For Divorce", the current single, which has already been likened to a stomping Zeppelin riff. For me it's somewhere between "Kashmir" and "When The Levee Breaks". It swaggers like Page and Plant but retains this restrained northern soul that makes you play the track again and again, because you need this song in your life. Put simply it's addictive.
This feel is retained for other gems such as "The Bones Of You", a lilting 6/8 percussive opening with crystal clear acoustic strumming eventually augmented by a strong meandering bass line that wouldn't be out of place in a Muse anthem, yet here it perfectly underpins the delicate softness of the piece and the beautiful vocal harmonies of the chorus. When this song lets go it rocks out with the best of them, it has the taste of Soulwax about it but at no point does it forget where it came from and the restraint and foresight to bring it back to it's roots is just another grain of evidence in the case to prove that this band is a musical force to be reckoned with. Allowing the song to slip peacefully into a background sound scape of a busy back street bustle and the gentle tones of a piano accompanied muted trumpet version of Gershwin's "Summertime" is just adorable and just another way this album tricks you into forgetting what it is you're listening to.
"Mirrorball" floats on the breeze like a dandelion clock seed, From it's opening it feels like a lazy summer's day. It's delicate opening tones build with beautifully arranged strings only to be stripped back to the prettiest of piano parts that shares more in common with Debussy or Chopin than any recent contemporary music would dare to even contemplate. Likewise "Weather To Fly" shares this ethereal feel. A stripped bare and vulnerable vocal line opens the song only to become another instrument to blend into the accompanying music for the main vocal line that is complimented perfectly by a simple harmony line. On a second listen, suddenly the lyrics hit home and I'm surprised to find that they are nowhere near as happy as the music that they accompany. It's a retrospective look on life and a realization that it's time to move on to somewhere better.
There are two tracks on the album that add a little humour into the proceedings. "An Audience With The Pope" steals along like Fagin charming his pick pockets to do his dirty work. The lyrics depict the weakness of the male gender when it comes to certain women and a wonderfully facetious chorus stating, "I have an audience with the pope, and I'm saving the world at 8, but if she says she needs me, Everybody's gonna have to wait." The second verse's delicious call and response set up and quirky guitar and bass solos round this oddball song up perfectly.
The other theatrical entry is "The Fix". A dark duet between Garvey and Richard Hawley about horse race fixing. A great example for anyone on how to write ingenious story telling lyrics. A brilliant performance is given by Hawley here sounding like a velvet larynxed crooner from the Rat Pack era blending the subconscious link of mafia underground dodgy dealings into this eerie Italiano waltz.
"The Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver" instantly fills your mind with a heady panoramic roof top view of chimney pots and clouds, the calm way above the busy city, while "Some Riot" contradicts it's title and whisks you up into what feels like the musical equivalent of a large ship on the ocean swell. Delicate piano cascades grace the beginning and end of this shimmering ray of delicate musical grandeur.
"One Day Like This" pops along like a sudden uplifting moment in the darkness with it's stunning string arrangement that's one minute beautifully legato phrasing gives way to staccato, percussive stabs accenting the drum pattern. Once again the dynamic range is stretched to the limit as everything drops back to virtually a whisper against gently plucked violins before rushing back to full power just in time for a thoroughly enjoyable sing along that is aching to be heard echoing across festival fields.
The final track on the album, "Friend Of Ours", is a sad lament. One can only assume written in memory of a lost one. It's heart felt guitar opening is played with such passion followed by the the first verse's quiet bass and drum accompaniment gives a stark contrast to the lush string arrangement that follows. A very moving song. In fact, I have no intention of describing just how incredibly moving this track is as I would be unable to do it justice. Listen to it for yourself, you'll understand.
This is a phenomenal Album and most certainly in my opinion a career best for Elbow. Buy this album and add it to your collection today. Immerse yourself in it, it will one day grace those lists of must have albums along with "Blonde On Blonde" and "The Bends". This surely is a band that has reached enlightenment.

16.04.08