T
he Manchester band has gone through a few changes in the past few years. Singer Guy Garvin made the transatlantic move to New York a few years ago before getting married and the band have parted ways with drummer Richard Jupp. The band’s seventh studio release and first since 2014 continues their Oasis meets Coldplay meets Radiohead meets The Doves sound – introspection and a bit melancholy with a touch of the anthemic.
The driving strings and dramatic chorus swells on “Magnificent (She Says)” are a particular highlight in what could almost be a James Bond theme. Underneath a slow burning 80’s style R n B jam there is a great percussive beat that propels “Gentle Storm”. A smart producer will use this at some point and feature a soulful female singer to sing the wonderful “fall in love with me… everyday” line. The poetic and understated guitar make “Head for Supplies” a lovely little tune while “K2” performs a similar feat with more of a drum beat and a political bent to the lyrics.
This is my third Elbow album of the last four and I’m not sure if it’s better than the others but I seem to like it more (a revisit of past work is definitely in order). Songs average just under five minutes each and at times can blend into one another. But there is a beauty in the lyrics that at times reflect the joy in Garvey’s recent marriage to actress Rachael Stirling and the welcoming of their first child earlier this year. “Then my telephone shakes into life and I see your name, the wheat fields explode into gold on either side of the train” This is a strong album for a band this late into their career.
8/10
After moving to London from her native North Wales, Kelly Lee Owens interned at XL Records and worked at trendy record shops across the city. A few years ago, she began contributing vocals to friend’s releases before moving on to creating her tracks as well as a Jenny Hval remix for “Kingsize”. Already in 2017 Owens snagged our coveted favourite song of the week spot a few months ago for “Anxi.”(!!) and the full self-titled album does not disappoint.
My relationship with singer James Mercer has been an off/on again one. I sat way at the back and talked with mates through The Shins set at the Austin City Limits Festival in 2006. I really liked Wincing the Night Away, missed the first Broken Bells album, wasn’t too fussed about the second, and never got around to checking out Port of Morrow. However, I did jump on Heartworms a few months ago, ignoring the horrendous cover artwork but really enjoying this 
Seventeen years ago, I was living in the UK and every week I’d head down to the trendy record store that was a few blocks away from London’s Angel tube station. While the vestiges of time have made me forget the name of the shop, I loved it there. Small but well curated; half of the store was devoted to records, the other half to CDs and every time I was there I stared at the album Nixon by Lambchop that was always on sale 2 for £20. I never bought even though the press was raving about it and only picked it up second hand in the last few years… but have yet to actually listen to it.
