Oh dear, oh dear! This is yet another album that puts Coldplay’s newest in the dim, dark shade. But it’s not altogether surprising since Elbow has proved to be one of the UK’s top bands through tremendous live performances, and two other very strong albums. This is a band that moves on and up, and this album is another example of that musical progression.

Opener Station Approach is nothing short of epic with its distinctive sound, slow opening, superb melody, and building crescendo of beautiful noise. It’s an amazing song. Picky Bugger sustains a crawling pace and bluesy vibe, while providing an excellent example of the band’s song writing prowess. Lyrics like, “Drinking, In order to feel, Thinking, Reinventing the wheel, Kicking up mischief, And feeding the fire, Kicking up mischief, And walking the wire.” are simple and telling. The Stops is a glacially paced, contemplative stunner with vocalist Guy Garvey providing a gentle, expressive narrative to this beautiful song. Leader Of The Free World provides a wonderful showcase for the band’s instrumental strengths with its driving drum rhythm, superb bass and guitar displays. This song takes me back to best Beatles days, and it’s another cracking track.

The underlying theme of the album is reflections on love. Great Expectations is a profound example of this with its gently wandering vibe, and lyrics that are credible and very moving (“A call girl with yesterday’s eyes…”). Elbow is the thinking person’s Coldplay, in that the guys convey more conviction and less fear in their music. This album hits the emotional mark, time and time again, and Elbow has triumphed again.

4/5