| CD REVIEW Idlewild |
 |
|
Band : Idlewild In contrast to rumours that this Scottish Rock band would have split, they are indeed still very much alive. Founded in 1995 by Roddy Woomble (lead vocals), Colin Newton (drums), and Allan Stewart (guitars), the original trio have seen a coupld of members come and go, and have now released their 7th studio album to date (on Deceptive Records came the 1998 debut full-length, after which the band signed to Food Records for the release of their 1998 & 2000 albums Hope Is Important and 100 Broken Windows, followed by 2002’s The Remote Part and 2005’s Warnings/Promises issued through major label Parlophone, and 2007’s Make Another World, issued through Sanctuarysubsidiary Sequel Records; additionally, Parlophone issued the 2007 compilations Scottish Fiction – Best Of 1997-2007…including a live DVD in its special edition…and A Distant History – Rarities 1997-2007). Over the years, the band’s music evolved from a more Punky and rawdy approach which was however not devoid of a certain angularity, towards a slicker and more sweeping melodic one, in which influences from the likes of Gang Of Four, Pavement, R.E.M., Blur, Fugazi, and certainly also The Smiths (the latter especially also in Woomble’s vocal approach), can clearly be found. Although the build-up of the tracks doés have something more than one usually expects from commercial Rock acts, I’ve never been a big fan of that typical vocal approach, even when occasionally enhanced with vocal backing (like on a couple of this album’s songs)…and while I can certainly enjoy a set of 4 or 5 songgs in a row, I tend to get a “bored” feeling when having to sit through an entire album of such material! Post Electric Blues, in spite of being somewhat versatile (besides a majority of more uplifting tracks, you’ll also find a couple of ballads : the acoustic “Take Me Back To The Islands” and album closer “Take Me Back In Time”) does not evade that fate, I’m afraid, in spite of the effort the band obviously put in their work! Ach well, I’ve said it before, and I’ll have to say it so often again…but the face of a band is made by their singer, and when that one is not appealing to the listener in question…see what I’m getting at? Nevertheless, I’m aware that there’s a lot of people out there who àre into this kind of vocals. No need to introduce the new album to true Idlewild fans (who are large enough in numbers to have gotten the band’s singles and albums into the charts during the last couple of years), as they probably already got the album direct from the band, whom self-released the album already in June (pre-orders were taken starting late Nov. 2008). But those whom felt something tingle when reading the list of bands which influence Idlewild’s current sound may wanna check out some of the band’s music at myspace.com/idlewild. Meanwhile, maybe I should mention that this band ain’t strictly a Scottish thing anymore, as Woomble (who’s released a Folk album titled My Secret Is My Silence under his own name in June 2006, followed by a collaboration album with Kris Drever and Folk musician Jogh McCusker, titled Before The Ruin, in Sept. 2008; he also started writing a column in Scottish newspaper The Sunday Herald) is now residing in London (and at a certain moment they even had an Irish musician in their line-up). 80/100 Tony. |