Steel Notes Magazine | 29
CD Review
Elbow : The Take off and Landing of Everything . by
Guy
A . Jude
Garvey is a surprising fellow ; gruff and unkempt in his demeanor , charming and awkward to a fault onstage , and with a voice like a bruised angel he sings poetry as moving as Leonard Cohen .
The lyrics are clearly wrung from the depths of his northern English soot-stained heart . Even his outing with Massive Attack ( the magisterial Flat Of The Blade ) was redolent of coal mines , stainless steel and industrial landscapes .
The Manchester band , Elbow were together for around 11 years before their first record hit the streets in the UK , and they have steadily developed a reputation for nothing less than magnificence , improving their sound with nods to Radiohead , Verve and Talk Talk ( in my humble opinion ) but with an inimitable knack for melodies that unravel steadily with each listen .
This album will most likely not yield any “ One Day Like This ” award winning monsters , ( from their previous album “ The Seldom Seen Kid ”) but the best start to begin to digest this album is definitely the charming and hilarious organ-driven “ Charge ” with lyrics like “ Glory be , these fuckers are ignoring me ”
“ New York Morning ” is a stunning and evocative , probably my favorite , starting with a dreamy Eno-esque ambience , and slowly erupting into a male voice choir-led GLORIOUS outro .
I can ’ t explain the rush of adrenaline and emotion that floods over me when I hear this stuff . If you actually LISTEN to music and feel it to your bones and in your brain and let the words drive your conscious thought around
“ Real life ( Angel )” is Elbow ’ s “ Reckoner ” ( by Radiohead ) in sound and feel . I am sure that is not their intent , but it just IS .
This is music for the soul , for the heart and a microscope on the sentiments of the romantic Northern English man . Always overlooked for the stereotype of a rough-hewn alcohol-sodden creature , the truth is that Joy Division , The Smiths , Echo and The Bunnymen and now Elbow represent the wit romance and downright genius that the predicament of that joyless landscape dictates .
We escape within , and that is for the betterment of the world . It is impossible to HEAR this music unless you invest your full time . The beauty unravels slowly and the songs dig into you until you forget there was ever a time when they were not part of you .
Listen and weep . ♫
Steel Notes Magazine | 29