The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow has won the Mercury Prize 2008, which means that this is the first actually good album since 2005 that has won the honour. If you haven’t checked the album or the band out already, now would be a fitting time to do it and you shouldn’t regret it, because they’re pretty damn awesome. Here’s a review I wrote some time ago, and that I still agree with. A superb album.

“This is quite literally the best thing that’s ever happened to us. I know I’m supposed to say something cool, but it’s literally the best thing that has happened.”
-Guy Garvey on the winning

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There’s a rather frequently occurring trend with Elbow fans and, in general, people who’ve heard the band’s music that the first listens of the band always bring out opinions like “this band is boring” or “disappointing album”. Only later will the flower bloom and rabid fanboyism begin. This is because Elbow is such a subtle band most of the time. Their singles are instant hits that hook you as soon as they can and which raise your interest, yet they are the oddballs of the albums (fitting to the album’s context, but still oddballs) as the rest of the album consists of more contemplative, quieter tracks that most often need some time to grow. The Seldom Seen Kid breaks this tradition. It’s Elbow’s most instantly accessible album so far, even its quieter moments dressing themselves up with a drive, an instancy that takes the listener’s attention immediately and then reveals the deeper qualities of the songs later.

This may be because it’s also Elbow’s most optimistic-sounding up to date. despite the events surrounding the album’s creation (we’ll get to that later). Whilst they’ve never been angstydark, there’s always been a hint of melancholy in a lot of their music and sure enough, you can find that same here, but the general sound is much more liberated and at some points downright joyous. “Weather to Fly” sparkles brightly as it floats away fitting to its name, “Audience with a Pope” is a James Bond movie theme without a movie and the splendid “Mirrorball” takes Elbow’s gift for beautiful, atmospheric pieces and mixes it with a hypnotic beat. The opener “Starlings” alternates between mellow quiet and triumphant noise. But nowhere is the optimistic light more prevalent than on “One Day Like This”. It’s the most optimistic sounding song in the entire Elbow catalogue, the narrator basking over serene strings in happiness as he’s fallen in love, before halfway through the song turns into an everlasting singalong (gospel choirs and all), a liberating, powerful moment of pure happiness and joy.

Because of this free’er sound, the album’s sadder side sounds even sadder. The album’s title refers to a great friend of the band who died during the album’s conception, and his memory lives on around the album. The first single “Grounds for Divorce” unleashes the anger and frustration of the situation with a sleazy, thrashy drunken bar rocker, while the complete opposite “Some Riot” is almost an a cappella effort from leadman Guy Carvey, his aching voice echoing in silence filled with longing as a lone (almost) piano backs him up. The final track of the album, “Friend of Mine”, is like a punch in the guts. It’s situated right after the massively happy “One Day Like This”, appearing as if slyly from the darkness. The band bids their goodbye to their friend, ending the album with the saddest notes they have ever played – the life-affirming joy of the previous track emphasising the tragedy of the song while the final mood of the album gets completely turned upside down. Never before have the simple words “love you, mate” sounded so downright painfully sad.

The final result is Elbow’s most diverse album, but this band is too crafty and confident in its own skills to let a medium they respect to turn into a messy pile. The songs flow into eachother and support eachother, and Elbow’s trademark attention to all the details in sound is intact – once again the listening experience is entirely different whether you listen to it with headphones or not. And naturally, Garvey is intact: his raspy (and mysteriously sexy) voice and his down-to-earth lyrics that are an important part of Elbow’s charm – same here.

It’s the band’s fourth album, and it just goes even further to prove that Elbow can do no wrong.

Mirrorball

Tags: Elbow

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 11:11 pm and is filed under News, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.