Elbow, Little Fictions – review

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I have always been a bit suspicious of Mercury Prize-winning Elbow – their particular “Northern Soul” has always seemed a touch Dad Rock. Being a band from the early 2000s, they are associated with the Indie revival, a band with a sizeable cult appeal similar to that of The Doves –  remember them? Even after seeing them support Coldplay in the Phoenix Park – yes this review has been written by someone who likes Coldplay – they couldn’t win me over. Still, I decided to give their latest release, Little Fictions, a chance with unbiased ears. After all, lead singer Guy Garvey is the man who orchestrated the string section for the Arctic Monkeys stirring rendition of “Mardy Bum” at Glastonbury in 2013, surely a reason to suspect he might be capable of producing an album worthy of attention.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. However, if you ever had any good feeling towards Elbow you just may get something from this album. Little Fictions is the most “Elbow” album that Elbow could have made. Guy Garvey’s sweet bear hug of a voice consistently envelopes the listener, only for the songs to lead nowhere, with the rest of the band playing meandering world music motifs. Opening track and lead single “Magnificent (She Says)” definitely has something going for it, with its stirring strings and gliding chorus, and it has to be said that Garvey has a breathtaking vocal touch. “Gentle Storm” is an ode to love which is touching in its indirectness. But it is a precursor to much ado about nothing, as songs such as “Trust the Sun” and “All Disco” seem impressionistic and impromptu after those precise openers. Garvey wails about an unsteady romance on “Trust the Sun”; “I just don’t trust the sun to rise, when I can’t see your eyes, you’re my reason for breathing” he croons. It is lyrical and affecting but it never progresses into a solid composition. “Montparnasse” is the nadir of this, being no more than a sketch of a track. Perhaps that reflects Garvey’s experiences, but there is no reason why the music should follow into such a malaise.

The group are better elsewhere, during “Firebrand and Angel”, and “K2” which injects rhythm and jazz notes to give the music a vibrancy while never forgetting the melancholic origins of the band’s sound. The title track, “Little Fictions”, is a nursery rhyme romp before the guitar and synths kick off “Kindling”, which rises and falls to nothing much. Elbow are a talented band and there is good stuff on this album, but the songs play like B sides for the normal listener. Perhaps after achieving a large level of success the band are torn between the private – reflected in the diary entry style of the lyrics – and the public – reflected by their large profile. Either way as an album it doesn’t succeed. But as for now, the world is their elevator and Elbow will continue to provide the muzak.

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