Elbow has released a string of ambitious albums, but no masterpiece. Its 2001 debut Asleep in the Back evoked its title image by making you feel disoriented yet serene; the follow-up, A Cast of Thousands, coughed up bigger singles, louder guitars and a Gospel choir. Neither album put the band at the top of the British music scene—Radiohead strikes a better balance of mood and songcraft, and Coldplay’s Chris Martin gets The Girl—but Elbow’s unique atmosphere and creeping emotions always set it apart.
This time, the band has elected to not let great be the enemy of good. They’ve toned down their aspirations and settled for a solid, comfortable record, full of choruses that roll like hills, and love songs that coo and sigh. There’s no tension here, maybe because it’s a homesick album that’s already made it home; the band wrote the songs on the road, but recorded them in a cozy spot near its native Manchester, and you don’t listen to the result so much as put up your feet and lounge in it.
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