Spring Break
'Kid' more for mature listeners
Luke Soin
Issue date: 5/9/08 Section: Features
The band Elbow has been around for a while - 17 years to be exact. "The Seldom Seen Kid" is the band's newest album. I have not heard any of its other work but I found this CD to be very thoughtful and slow.
Slow means it is music that takes its time. It flows and it winds and it drifts. Whether this is good or not depends on your mood and your taste in music.
A lot of the record also has a tired feeling, like the band is weary with life. Not that they want to commit suicide or anything though. These elements are felt on songs like "Some Riot" and "Mirrorball."
Other songs are very trippy however, like "An Audience with the Pope." If the name isn't odd enough, listen to the song. Light keyboard tones are mixed with a rolling circus-like rhythm. Imagine a theme song for a guy in tights standing on his hands on a giant ball.
Another circus-like song is "The Fix," which has all kinds of odd noises going on while a haunting melody steadily plays in the background.
Much of Elbow's work would fit real nice in a Tim Burton movie. It sometimes has that creepy sort of sound.
The first track on the album is one to avoid for regular listening. It is also haunting and weird. It's called "Starlings," which sounds cool but it doesn't prepare you for the quiet humming and then the startling flourishes of horn-sounding instruments. I don't know if they are horns though or not. But they startle all the same with their sudden outcry.
Fortunately they do not do this sort of odd behavior on most of the other songs. The other songs are either slow rolling numbers or creepy keyboard-driven theme songs for circus folk. They don't intend for the circus reference though, I'm sure.
The vocals of Guy Garvey are husky and seasoned. It sounds like he has been through a very long life that has dented and beaten his soul into a very hard character. It sometimes comes off raspy but then at other times it is very smooth. He has a very nice range.
For the most part Garvey sounds like a British version of John Legend mixed with a bit of Sting. But on some songs he leans more toward one or the other.
Elbow is certainly not for everyone. There is a specific audience who will be looking for this sort of music.
It's very moody adult music. Not adult because of language or obscenities, but because it is so serious and melancholy. It's music for people who have lived a lot of life. It's for people who have experienced love, loss and everything else in between.
Perhaps some of that is reflected in the naming and dedication of this album. "The Seldom Seen Kid" refers to singer/songwriter Bryan Glancy, who passed away in January 2006.
There is a lot of raw emotion here. You'll want this record if you like to feel tired and weird, as well as thoughtful and introspective.
Slow means it is music that takes its time. It flows and it winds and it drifts. Whether this is good or not depends on your mood and your taste in music.
A lot of the record also has a tired feeling, like the band is weary with life. Not that they want to commit suicide or anything though. These elements are felt on songs like "Some Riot" and "Mirrorball."
Other songs are very trippy however, like "An Audience with the Pope." If the name isn't odd enough, listen to the song. Light keyboard tones are mixed with a rolling circus-like rhythm. Imagine a theme song for a guy in tights standing on his hands on a giant ball.
Another circus-like song is "The Fix," which has all kinds of odd noises going on while a haunting melody steadily plays in the background.
Much of Elbow's work would fit real nice in a Tim Burton movie. It sometimes has that creepy sort of sound.
The first track on the album is one to avoid for regular listening. It is also haunting and weird. It's called "Starlings," which sounds cool but it doesn't prepare you for the quiet humming and then the startling flourishes of horn-sounding instruments. I don't know if they are horns though or not. But they startle all the same with their sudden outcry.
Fortunately they do not do this sort of odd behavior on most of the other songs. The other songs are either slow rolling numbers or creepy keyboard-driven theme songs for circus folk. They don't intend for the circus reference though, I'm sure.
The vocals of Guy Garvey are husky and seasoned. It sounds like he has been through a very long life that has dented and beaten his soul into a very hard character. It sometimes comes off raspy but then at other times it is very smooth. He has a very nice range.
For the most part Garvey sounds like a British version of John Legend mixed with a bit of Sting. But on some songs he leans more toward one or the other.
Elbow is certainly not for everyone. There is a specific audience who will be looking for this sort of music.
It's very moody adult music. Not adult because of language or obscenities, but because it is so serious and melancholy. It's music for people who have lived a lot of life. It's for people who have experienced love, loss and everything else in between.
Perhaps some of that is reflected in the naming and dedication of this album. "The Seldom Seen Kid" refers to singer/songwriter Bryan Glancy, who passed away in January 2006.
There is a lot of raw emotion here. You'll want this record if you like to feel tired and weird, as well as thoughtful and introspective.
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