ALBUM REVIEWS
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ALBUM REVIEWS |
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Idlewild
POST ELECTRIC BLUES COOKING VINYL 5.10.09 @www.vanguard-online.co.uk
Post Electric Blues, eh? Does this mean Idlewild have gone all acoustic and soft? Has Roddy Woomble spent too long playing Scottish Folk and forgotten what the band’s fans love them for? Nah, it’s just a clever name. Thank God. Actually, that’s not entirely true, as certain tracks on this, the band’s seventh studio album, incorporate the various areas that the band have individually been dabbling in, but it’s not like you’re confronted by an album that intersperses Indie/rock with Morris bells and bagpipes. Instead, what you hear are layers of sound, beginning with the band’s regular line-up, then bringing in new and different instruments and harmonies to embellish. The opening three tracks are classic Idlewild. Straight into “Younger Than America”, with its electric guitars opening proceedings, the formula is comfortingly familiar. Next up, Dylan-referencing “Readers and Writers” (‘there is no time out of mind’) builds on the momentum by throwing in more musical layers and a hook that I’ve been whistling ever since the CD landed on my doormat. The album’s title(ish) track “Post-Electric” is another typical Idlewild offering, with guitars once again at the forefront and a chorus that almost doesn’t want to be a chorus. “(The Night Will) Bring You Back To Life”, is the best example of the band spreading their wings, for while it’s recognisable as an Idlewild track, the multi-vocal over xylophone sound lends it the feeling of a traditional folk song, while the guitar and tempo in general maintain the modern edge. It’s fair to label “Post Electric Blues” as a classic Idlewild album – it has every element that longstanding fans will listen out for, but the band are trying new things too. Thankfully these all work, culminating in an album that, while not playing host to eleven stonking tracks, certainly makes them all work when stood side-by-side. www.idlewild.co.uk |
