It’s unusual to find a young band that was formed and signed by a major label in the same year. Well, that’s what the UK’s Morning Runner managed to achieve in 2004, followed by the completion of this debut album, due to land very soon, in 2006. The band has wisely taken to the road since being signed, and next month undertake one of the most intensive nationwide promo tours I can remember (with just two days off in the month). Now all this is good news because Morning Runner has something different and exciting to offer. Musically, the band can be slotted under the indie pop/rock category, and in comparative terms think a slightly more disciplined version of Canada’s Arcade Fire with piano playing a more dominant role.

The band doesn’t waste time in grabbing attention with opening track It’s Not Like Everyone’s My Friend. While the piano plays out a conventional and unflinching rhythm, the lead singer’s plaintive vocal combine with rousing rocky instrumental choruses to lift the song well above the ordinary. Add a huge melody and you have a stunning indie pop/rock anthem, that when released as a single (as it should be) will fly. An unrelenting rapid-fire drum rhythm opens next track Have A Good Time. With its punk underbelly, intense vocal and super-quick pace I can imagine this song ringing out in alternative dance clubs around the country. The same could be said for the stuttered pace of next track, Gone Up In Flames, which adds hammered piano notes behind the rocky vibe. Burning Benches offers some beautiful respite (initially anyway!) with its piano intro and contemplative vocal. Then around the middle-eight all hell lets loose as the piano goes mental, followed by drums and a desperate, rasping vocal. It’s an enormous song, a different song, a great pop/rock song.

Hold You Breath has a jazzy vibe (with piano playing a strong rhythmic role), and sustained slower pace. It’s a song bursting with melody, decent lyrics and a simpler ambience. The formula is repeated with the gorgeous, haunting and moving, stripped-down Oceans. Track 8, Be All You Want To Be is an indie pop anthem for our times, and is yet another potential single that should go stratospheric.

There’s eleven wonderful tracks here that are fresh, diverse of pace and mood, while combining the best elements of Keane and Arcade Fire. This translates into an album of individual and top quality that will have wide appeal, and given airplay, will top the UK chart. It’s also good enough to make a dent in important overseas markets. Morning Runner has created one of the strongest debut pop/rock albums I have heard, and I look forward to witnessing the guys live very soon. Strongly recommended.

4.5/5