Leaders Of The Free World
Elbow
Following an album as consistently fine as 03’s Cast Of Thousands must have been a daunting task for Guy Garvey and his British pals in Elbow. That aforementioned album did slip under most people’s radar in this country but that made unearthing its eleven melodic treasures even more of a find but that was then and this is now.

With a title like Leaders Of The Free World and the world’s focus on political intrigue like never before, does this release announce a return to the dreaded concept album? Thankfully it does not. The title comes from an honest outrage at seeing Bush Junior being sworn in as president and his obvious arrogance, elsewhere the album tells tales of everyday situations and dramas.

Lead vocalist and lyricist, Guy Garvey still delivers an emotional wallop to the songs, at times sounding almost like a reverent Peter Gabriel and the band continues to emphasize multi-part harmonies in its arrangements. As a group of songs these track are not as immediate as their predecessors but grow in stature after each listen.

A request for a little more variety in tempo aside, these eleven tracks still fill the room with all that Elbow goodness and point towards a band far from played out. This is a comforting stop along a path towards potential greatness.
Rob Hudson
www.elbow.co.uk



The Goodbye Girl
Epicure
The Goodbye Girl is an impressive album from these boys from Ballarat. It's a work that shows a band comfortable with having its production and instrumental prowess be subservient to the most important thing, the songs. It also shows a group capable of letting the song be delivered with a relaxed groove; there are no frantic moments here and no wasted energy.

Opening with the sombre title track and cruising through moments of both strength and weakness, the songs show a collective stronger than its individual parts, this notion is reinforced by having song writing credits list only the band and not its members.

There are a number of very radio friendly tracks here (Armies Against Me and Firing Squad to name a few) but the more personal ones linger the longest. 12 Months of Winter with its subtle pedal steel, Clay Pigeons' resignation to salvation coming from within and the far away love of Distant Seas hit just the right emotional resonance.

This is a set of songs to play when warmth and redemption is needed like a comforting hug from a long missed friend.
Rob Hudson
www.epicuretheband.com



A Song is a City
Eskimo Joe
Watching the career arc of Eskimo Joe has been very interesting. They started out embracing a sense of frothy fun with their first few EPs then started to really deliver the goods with their first long-player, Girl. That sense of progress is very apparent in the new album, A Song is a City. The journey from young popsters to experienced craftsmen continues.

Far from suffering the isolation of home town, Fremantle, they use the eclectic and artistic surrounds for their own benefit, Kav, Stuart and Joel have embraced the new while still keeping some old values alive. They enjoy a unity in which the strengths of each band member add to the collective good and they benefit from the sense of liberation that good song writing can provide. The new material shows a band comfortable with craft but with a strong desire to produce music that has value to their audience and themselves. It would not do to make the same album over and over and while the new work might prove a challenge to some members of their audience, the band wouldn’t have it any other way.

The new material was fine tuned in the studio as well as on an acoustic tour that got lead vocalist Kav’s pipes in top shape. The thoughts that went into the album are reflected in the overall flow, which has an organic feel to it. It reaches peaks and then takes moments of reflection to give listeners a chance to catch their breath. The songs are written with nuance and reveal themselves more with each listen. There is also an earthiness that points to a band that knows when to take a break from the Rock and Roll circus and recharge their batteries with time spent at home amongst real friends and real life.

In a tradition from the past that should continue into the future, the album runs under forty minutes long and gives you just enough to fill your mind but not so much as to drive the inspiration away. If a band can produce work that keeps their minds and hearts fresh, then their audience is sure to follow.
Rob Hudson
www.eskimojoe.net



The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
Explosions In The Sky
As far as commercial fare goes, instrumental music hasn’t had a presence in the popular charts in a long time. Back in the fifties and sixties, hearing tracks on the radio without vocals was a common occurrence, today not so. The positive effect of this situation is the purveyors of instrumental music know it will never chart and act accordingly.

Back in 2003, the American four-piece, Explosions In The Sky released The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place and the press reception was universally positive. The record is now getting a domestic Australian release and it’s a great time to go back and revisit this wonderful work.

Forty-five minutes of sonic bliss are spread out over only five tracks and with song lengths running up to the ten-minute mark, these musical journeys can take their time to unfold. Subtract the unnecessary commercial aspect and these songs have an ebb and flow that is truly transcendent.

Cascading guitars and rushes of percussive endeavour build to inescapable moments of intellectual tension and soulful release. With storytelling this vivid words will not be missed.
Rob Hudson
www.explosionsinthesky.com


All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
Explosions In The Sky
The album artwork gives a valuable clue to understanding All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone, the new album by Explosions In The Sky. It’s an impressionist painting and that style of art is mimicked by the music within. The colours and brush strokes are there, as are the basic shapes but the rest is left up to you to interpret. You must interrelate with this music, get involved or the subtleties will defuse into aural wallpaper.

With bare emotions unencumbered by lyrical content and a freedom from pop song structures, these six long tracks take their time to unfold. Without forced dynamics, some of the songs build to incredible crescendos, while others come and go like dreams and draw no conclusion at all. Such is the demanding nature of this music.

If you are looking for easily digested pop formulas and innocuous songs that fit perfectly behind the clink of too many glasses of white in an effort to force common consensus, please look elsewhere.

To say music is challenging shouldn’t scare away the masses but it usual does. So I don’t see many Lear jets in the Explosions’ future but that’s all right with me, this will just have to be my own guilty little pleasure.
Rob Hudson
www.explosionsinthesky.com