Showing posts with label Elbow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elbow. Show all posts
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Elbow Name Sixth Album
Elbow have titled their sixth album "Carry Her Carry Me". The album is due out in March 2014, and may feature songs such as Charge, This Blue World, My Sad Captains, All At Once and New York Morning. The album is their first since 2011's Build A Rocket Boys!
Monday, 30 September 2013
Elbow To Release New Album
Elbow have announced that their sixth album will be released on March 10th next year. The album is currently being recorded, and no details are yet known, apart from the name of some potential songs - Charge, This Blue World, My Sad Captains and New York Morning - and a working title (All At Once).
Monday, 2 July 2012
Elbow Announce Release Date For New Track
Elbow have announced that their Olympics single, "First Steps" will be released on July 27th. Little clips have been used in trailers for the big event on the BBC so far. The song features a choir rather than singer Guy Garvey, but other than that we don't know much other than it's about six minutes long.
Monday, 19 December 2011
Best Of 2011: #7
#7 - Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys!
Original review here.
Elbow could be forgiven for taking the long-awaited success that went hand-in-hand with their fantastic fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid, and using it to craft a record that would appeal more to the masses. But they chose not to - and although I like commercial bands for the most part, this very stripped back and minimal album is absolutely beautiful, and features some fantastic lyrics ("And any noble fire that was burning in my chest / is acid in my belly at the very best", anyone?). The best songs are the huge eight-minute opener The Birds, the beautiful, restrained Lippy Kids, and one of the rare forays into slightly more commercial sounds, Open Arms. It's great to see the band not letting the fame get to their head, because when they make beautiful music that leaves you with your mouth wide open like this, you never want them to stop.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Album Review: Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys!
Album: Build A Rocket Boys!
Artist: Elbow
Singles: Neat Little Rows
I have never been the biggest fan of Elbow; the only song that I really got into from their first three albums was Forget Myself, but then came The Seldom Seen Kid, which I loved, and had on repeat regularly. When I heard this album was set to be closer to their original album than the new stuff, I was a little unsure whether I would like it or not. The band should be commended for not letting the acclaim go to their heads. But is this album any good? Let's see...
The Birds
An epic opener, lasting eight minutes, and delving in and out of different sounds. It doesn't get dull or particularly repetitive, which is always the worry for songs of this length. Starting off with a nice groove and settling in quite quickly, before the brilliant vocals of Guy Garvey shine out: "The birds, are the keepers of our secrets". After three and a half minutes, a psychedelic-sounding synth comes in to throw the song sideways with a load of random beeps - made to sound awesome. As we hear the words "looking back is for the birds" for the third or fourth time, the song shows another new beautiful side with strings joining in. Then the vocals come back in with immense power - Garvey showing off his incredible voice - and then before you know it, the song slows down and eight minutes have already passed. An outstanding opener, probably the best song on the album, in my opinion.
Lippy Kids
This song was released in more of a demo in video form in late December last year, and I liked it instantly. It's also a long one at six minutes, and it's very minimal - piano and vocals make up the majority of the song. A choir joins the chorus, giving it a great new layer that wasn't there in the original video the band posted online. It can get a bit repetitive and does take a while to reach the finishing point, but it's still a very good song.
With Love
The melody descends and the drums come in - getting straight into the song. The choir returns to chant "with love" throughout the chorus, which gets a nice mixture of vocals later on, all working around each other and sounding great. Again it's quite a minimal, repetitive song, but it still works well for the most part. It ends abruptly after the last chorus, but leads onto:
Neat Little Rows
The first single and the heaviest song on offer on this album, a guitar making itself known a little more than on the previous two tracks. Now that I've heard the rest of the album, it's easier to understand why this was the first single - almost nothing on here's very radio-friendly, not that that's a bad thing. It's different than the radio edit, featuring about two minutes worth of a middle eight which takes an underlying tune from the chorus to make the song very different indeed, with some odd sounds in the background, and some deep vocals over the top. It then comes back for one final rendition of the chorus and ends.
Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl
Once again, returning to the minimal sounds heard on Lippy Kids or With Love, made up of an acoustic guitar and Garvey's vocals. There is a quiet drumbeat in the background, but the song would work without it. It also features some unusual piano/synth noises occasionally that take a bit of getting used to, but it's a good song nonetheless.
The Night Will Always Win
A single solitary note is played around thirty times before the song gets going, and it does get a little frustrating waiting for something to happen, but the song makes up for it. Once again, the song is not overblown or awashed with orchestral sounds to make it sound powerful. Instead, the strength of Garvey's voice makes this a powerful song in a very different way. "The night will always win, the night has darkness on its side" goes the chorus, and you feel every syllable as it's sung.
High Ideals
Probably at the weaker end of the songs on the album. It has a catchy beat to start it off, and at the start when more instruments come to join it, it sounds promising - quite epic. But it goes in the other direction and returns to a slightly quieter sound as heard on quite a lot of the songs on the album. For me, nothing very interesting happens on this song, but it's definitely not unlistenable.
The River
A beautiful song, essentially consisting solely of piano and vocals. It doesn't go in any interesting new direction, but the band stick to what they know, and although the song takes less than three minutes to reach its end, it still leaves its mark.
Open Arms
This is another favourite of mine, and should be the next single. Its chorus has 'euphoric' written all over it - "we've got open arms for broken hearts", and Garvey's singing reaches its peak on this song - there's a moment about two minutes in when he sings "and we've loved enough to light the streets" and the sheer power and emotion in his voice is absolutely stunning. As the song closes with the lyric "everyone's here" being repeated over the chorus, it just makes you want to smile. A brilliant song.
The Birds (reprise)
Pretty much what it says it is. A minute and of a half of lyrics from The Birds being spoken over the quiet, emotional backing of a choir. It seems a little pointless, but it allows the listener a little break between two of the best songs on the album, the first being Open Arms, and the second being...
Dear Friends
Again, the band goes for the happiness factor. "Dear friends, you are angels and drunks, you are magi" goes the first line. The song is a beautiful one, and its sheer optimism is the perfect way to close the album. All the music comes together to throw emotion straight in your face. And as it takes its bow, it's hard to believe that you've got through all 50 minutes of the album. To be fair, the majority of it was taken up by The Birds and Lippy Kids alone, but still...
Well, I can say with confidence that I'm happy to be proven wrong. This may not be in line with my wish for more "Seldom Seen Kid" style songs, but it's still a fantastic album. It sticks to being quiet and minimal, and it pays off very well in most cases. Guy Garvey's vocals and the sheer beauty of the majority of the songs are the best parts of this album. I still think I enjoyed their previous album more, but this still will be on repeat for a while.
SCORE
Previous albums: Asleep In The Back (5/10), Cast Of Thousands (4/10), Leaders Of The Free World (5/10), The Seldom Seen Kid (9/10)
Artist: Elbow
Singles: Neat Little Rows
I have never been the biggest fan of Elbow; the only song that I really got into from their first three albums was Forget Myself, but then came The Seldom Seen Kid, which I loved, and had on repeat regularly. When I heard this album was set to be closer to their original album than the new stuff, I was a little unsure whether I would like it or not. The band should be commended for not letting the acclaim go to their heads. But is this album any good? Let's see...
The Birds
An epic opener, lasting eight minutes, and delving in and out of different sounds. It doesn't get dull or particularly repetitive, which is always the worry for songs of this length. Starting off with a nice groove and settling in quite quickly, before the brilliant vocals of Guy Garvey shine out: "The birds, are the keepers of our secrets". After three and a half minutes, a psychedelic-sounding synth comes in to throw the song sideways with a load of random beeps - made to sound awesome. As we hear the words "looking back is for the birds" for the third or fourth time, the song shows another new beautiful side with strings joining in. Then the vocals come back in with immense power - Garvey showing off his incredible voice - and then before you know it, the song slows down and eight minutes have already passed. An outstanding opener, probably the best song on the album, in my opinion.
Lippy Kids
This song was released in more of a demo in video form in late December last year, and I liked it instantly. It's also a long one at six minutes, and it's very minimal - piano and vocals make up the majority of the song. A choir joins the chorus, giving it a great new layer that wasn't there in the original video the band posted online. It can get a bit repetitive and does take a while to reach the finishing point, but it's still a very good song.
With Love
The melody descends and the drums come in - getting straight into the song. The choir returns to chant "with love" throughout the chorus, which gets a nice mixture of vocals later on, all working around each other and sounding great. Again it's quite a minimal, repetitive song, but it still works well for the most part. It ends abruptly after the last chorus, but leads onto:
Neat Little Rows
The first single and the heaviest song on offer on this album, a guitar making itself known a little more than on the previous two tracks. Now that I've heard the rest of the album, it's easier to understand why this was the first single - almost nothing on here's very radio-friendly, not that that's a bad thing. It's different than the radio edit, featuring about two minutes worth of a middle eight which takes an underlying tune from the chorus to make the song very different indeed, with some odd sounds in the background, and some deep vocals over the top. It then comes back for one final rendition of the chorus and ends.
Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl
Once again, returning to the minimal sounds heard on Lippy Kids or With Love, made up of an acoustic guitar and Garvey's vocals. There is a quiet drumbeat in the background, but the song would work without it. It also features some unusual piano/synth noises occasionally that take a bit of getting used to, but it's a good song nonetheless.
The Night Will Always Win
A single solitary note is played around thirty times before the song gets going, and it does get a little frustrating waiting for something to happen, but the song makes up for it. Once again, the song is not overblown or awashed with orchestral sounds to make it sound powerful. Instead, the strength of Garvey's voice makes this a powerful song in a very different way. "The night will always win, the night has darkness on its side" goes the chorus, and you feel every syllable as it's sung.
High Ideals
Probably at the weaker end of the songs on the album. It has a catchy beat to start it off, and at the start when more instruments come to join it, it sounds promising - quite epic. But it goes in the other direction and returns to a slightly quieter sound as heard on quite a lot of the songs on the album. For me, nothing very interesting happens on this song, but it's definitely not unlistenable.
The River
A beautiful song, essentially consisting solely of piano and vocals. It doesn't go in any interesting new direction, but the band stick to what they know, and although the song takes less than three minutes to reach its end, it still leaves its mark.
Open Arms
This is another favourite of mine, and should be the next single. Its chorus has 'euphoric' written all over it - "we've got open arms for broken hearts", and Garvey's singing reaches its peak on this song - there's a moment about two minutes in when he sings "and we've loved enough to light the streets" and the sheer power and emotion in his voice is absolutely stunning. As the song closes with the lyric "everyone's here" being repeated over the chorus, it just makes you want to smile. A brilliant song.
The Birds (reprise)
Pretty much what it says it is. A minute and of a half of lyrics from The Birds being spoken over the quiet, emotional backing of a choir. It seems a little pointless, but it allows the listener a little break between two of the best songs on the album, the first being Open Arms, and the second being...
Dear Friends
Again, the band goes for the happiness factor. "Dear friends, you are angels and drunks, you are magi" goes the first line. The song is a beautiful one, and its sheer optimism is the perfect way to close the album. All the music comes together to throw emotion straight in your face. And as it takes its bow, it's hard to believe that you've got through all 50 minutes of the album. To be fair, the majority of it was taken up by The Birds and Lippy Kids alone, but still...
Well, I can say with confidence that I'm happy to be proven wrong. This may not be in line with my wish for more "Seldom Seen Kid" style songs, but it's still a fantastic album. It sticks to being quiet and minimal, and it pays off very well in most cases. Guy Garvey's vocals and the sheer beauty of the majority of the songs are the best parts of this album. I still think I enjoyed their previous album more, but this still will be on repeat for a while.
SCORE
Previous albums: Asleep In The Back (5/10), Cast Of Thousands (4/10), Leaders Of The Free World (5/10), The Seldom Seen Kid (9/10)
Monday, 28 February 2011
Single Review: Elbow - Neat Little Rows
Single: Neat Little Rows
Artist: Elbow
From the album Build A Rocket Boys!
This is the first single off Elbow's upcoming fifth album, Build A Rocket Boys!, due out March 7th. I can't say I'm a great Elbow fan; The Seldom Seen Kid was a fantastic album but the others do nothing for me. On first listen to this, I feared that this would not be for me. A few listens later and I find myself humming the tune in my head. As a whole, it's a fairly standard first single, maybe not the sort of thing you'd hear regularly on radio - it's no Grounds For Divorce or One Day Like This. But they should be commended for this, not following their breakthrough album with some of the same. I may be more interested in Seldom Seen Kid-style anthems but this is decent enough. It's definitely a grower, but from iTunes previews and versions of Lippy Kids and Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl floating about on the internet, I can't wait to hear the album.
Artist: Elbow
From the album Build A Rocket Boys!
This is the first single off Elbow's upcoming fifth album, Build A Rocket Boys!, due out March 7th. I can't say I'm a great Elbow fan; The Seldom Seen Kid was a fantastic album but the others do nothing for me. On first listen to this, I feared that this would not be for me. A few listens later and I find myself humming the tune in my head. As a whole, it's a fairly standard first single, maybe not the sort of thing you'd hear regularly on radio - it's no Grounds For Divorce or One Day Like This. But they should be commended for this, not following their breakthrough album with some of the same. I may be more interested in Seldom Seen Kid-style anthems but this is decent enough. It's definitely a grower, but from iTunes previews and versions of Lippy Kids and Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl floating about on the internet, I can't wait to hear the album.
Monday, 7 February 2011
Preview Build A Rocket Boys!
Previews of all eleven tracks on Elbow's upcoming fifth album, Build A Rocket Boys!, can be found below.
EDIT: Apparently UMG blocked the video, so go to the iTunes UK store and search for 'Build A Rocket Boys' if you want to hear the previews.
EDIT: Apparently UMG blocked the video, so go to the iTunes UK store and search for 'Build A Rocket Boys' if you want to hear the previews.
Friday, 14 January 2011
First Single From Build A Rocket Boys!
The first single from Elbow's upcoming fifth album, Build A Rocket Boys! is called Neat Little Rows, and will be released 28th February.
It had its first radio play on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show last night, so if you are in the UK, you can have a listen to it here.
It had its first radio play on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show last night, so if you are in the UK, you can have a listen to it here.
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Elbow Post First Song From New Album
Elbow have posted an in-studio recording of their new song, Lippy Kids, the first track from upcoming fifth album Build A Rocket Boys! It's available here:
Saturday, 25 December 2010
Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys!
Artwork
Tracklist
01. The Birds
02. Lippy Kids
03. With Love
04. Neat Little Rows
05. Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl
06. The Night Will Always Win
07. High Ideals
08. The River
09. Open Arms
10. The Birds (reprise)
11. Dear Friend
The album is set to be released on 7th March.
The first single is Neat Little Rows, due for release on 28th February.
A live version of Lippy Kids is available here.
Previews:
Tracklist
01. The Birds
02. Lippy Kids
03. With Love
04. Neat Little Rows
05. Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl
06. The Night Will Always Win
07. High Ideals
08. The River
09. Open Arms
10. The Birds (reprise)
11. Dear Friend
The album is set to be released on 7th March.
The first single is Neat Little Rows, due for release on 28th February.
A live version of Lippy Kids is available here.
Previews:
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
Elbow Announce Fifth Album
Elbow's fifth album has been announced. It is called 'Build A Rocket Boys!' and will be released on 7th March. No other details are known yet.
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Lots Of Lovely New Albums...
Some various news for some upcoming albums:
White Lies (second album due out 17th January): The album is now set to have 10 tracks, not 11 as previously reported. There are now nine song titles; five of which we've heard from live versions (Bigger Than Us, Holy Ghost, Strangers, Street Lights and Is Love) and four unheard as of yet (Peace And Quiet, Turn The Bells, The Power And The Glory and Come Down). Peace And Quiet has been described as a massive departure from the normal White Lies sound, and The Power And The Glory as an 80s-influenced electro epic song.
Snow Patrol (sixth album expected mid-2011): The new album is set to have a massive electronic influence, according to various sources.
Elbow (fifth album expected mid-2011): Their new record has been described as bigger in some aspects and yet subtler in others. Frontman Guy Garvey believes it will not have the same commercial impact as their previous album, The Seldom Seen Kid.
Hadouken! (potential third album due out next year): A new song has been confirmed to get its first airing sometime in October/November. Rumours about a third album have not yet been confirmed or denied, but on the band's MySpace page, you can see "The next chapter coming soon," so it may be true after all!
Ladytron (fifth album expected sometime next year): Aside from a compilation featuring two new songs to be released late 2010, Ladytron have been working on their fifth album; however not much is known about it.
Hard-Fi (third album expected early 2011): Not much known about this, apart from five song titles: Sweat, Killer Sounds, Bring It On, Give It Up and Feels Good. Their Rockin' The City podcasts have samples of Sweat (here) and Feels Good (here). Also, here's a sample of Bring It On.
Pet Shop Boys: No new album, but a compilation "Ultimate" is set to be released November 2010. It will include a new song, "Together".
The View (third album expected early 2011): Not much news about this other than it has been recorded. Two songs are known: Underneath The Lights and Tragic Magic.
And last but certainly not least:
The Pigeon Detectives (third album expected early 2011): The new album has been recorded, but absolutely no other information as far as I can see.
White Lies (second album due out 17th January): The album is now set to have 10 tracks, not 11 as previously reported. There are now nine song titles; five of which we've heard from live versions (Bigger Than Us, Holy Ghost, Strangers, Street Lights and Is Love) and four unheard as of yet (Peace And Quiet, Turn The Bells, The Power And The Glory and Come Down). Peace And Quiet has been described as a massive departure from the normal White Lies sound, and The Power And The Glory as an 80s-influenced electro epic song.
Snow Patrol (sixth album expected mid-2011): The new album is set to have a massive electronic influence, according to various sources.
Elbow (fifth album expected mid-2011): Their new record has been described as bigger in some aspects and yet subtler in others. Frontman Guy Garvey believes it will not have the same commercial impact as their previous album, The Seldom Seen Kid.
Hadouken! (potential third album due out next year): A new song has been confirmed to get its first airing sometime in October/November. Rumours about a third album have not yet been confirmed or denied, but on the band's MySpace page, you can see "The next chapter coming soon," so it may be true after all!
Ladytron (fifth album expected sometime next year): Aside from a compilation featuring two new songs to be released late 2010, Ladytron have been working on their fifth album; however not much is known about it.
Hard-Fi (third album expected early 2011): Not much known about this, apart from five song titles: Sweat, Killer Sounds, Bring It On, Give It Up and Feels Good. Their Rockin' The City podcasts have samples of Sweat (here) and Feels Good (here). Also, here's a sample of Bring It On.
Pet Shop Boys: No new album, but a compilation "Ultimate" is set to be released November 2010. It will include a new song, "Together".
The View (third album expected early 2011): Not much news about this other than it has been recorded. Two songs are known: Underneath The Lights and Tragic Magic.
And last but certainly not least:
The Pigeon Detectives (third album expected early 2011): The new album has been recorded, but absolutely no other information as far as I can see.
Saturday, 27 December 2008
Best Of 2008 (#5)
Now we move on to separate albums with fuller reviews. At number 5, it is:
SCORE: 9/10
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
The album sounds quite dark and dismal, but it is beyond brilliant. Tracks such as Grounds For Divorce and One Day Like This lift this album to exceptional heights, the former of which is approaching its 100th play in my iTunes.
The opener, Starlings, sounds quiet and then changes to quite loud so fast it makes you jump. It's an odd song, but it does its job as an opening song. The album moves onto The Bones Of You, which was the last single released from the album, and is quite good.
Mirrorball is a slow, six-minute song which is actually quite beautiful when you get down to it. Then comes the furious Grounds For Divorce, whose guitar riff is the best I've ever heard, it's so good they didn't need a chorus, they just stuck the riff in, and it sounds fantastic. The only truly fast song on the album is one of the best songs ever.
Then the album calms down with An Audience With The Pope and Weather To Fly. The first of which is a piano-led song which isn't bad at all, and the second is a bit different, with one person singing lines such as "Are we having the time of our lives?" in the background, while Guy Garvey goes through the lyrics and prompty starts them again halfway through.
Then comes the powerful Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver, whose drum part goes really well with the song, and Guy Garvey's vocals soar on this song. This should have been a single. Then comes the jaunty, upbeat The Fix, which sounds a bit like a folk song, but is quite catchy.
Then we come to the end of the album. Some Riot is a slow, dark song which really gets to you, and then we come to the next brilliant part of the album. The seven-minute epic One Day Like This has been proven to be one of the best songs to be played live. The first three minutes work well when not live, but all of it, especially the end where the line "Throw those curtains wide, one day like this a year would see me right" is just constantly repeated over and over, works brilliantly live. But it's still an absolutely extraordinary song.
I felt that the album should have stopped there. The end, Friend Of Ours, doesn't seem to work after we've already had a song that could close the album perfectly. The song in itself is quite good, however.
This album deserved the Nationwide Mercury Prize, and all of it is fantastic.
SCORE: 9/10
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