Elbow - Leaders of the Free World
Undeniably the nicest bunch of blokes with instruments in the UK. Elbow have always been a band able to create music of great beauty and substance but one who, thus far, have remained just below the radar of absolute mainstream consciousness. While lacking the push that they have always deserved to take them from the theatres to the arenas and from the radio B-lists to the A-lists, their contemporaries Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand and the like have gone on to conquer the world leaving Elbow behind to carve out their own niche on the UK music scene.
This fate has, with hindsight, afforded the band the chance for musical expression entirely upon their own terms. The quasi cult status that they have achieved as a result has allowed for the creative freedom expressed to such strong effect on their first two albums, whilst always ensuring a steady flow of album sales.
While the theme of the last album, 'Cast of Thousands,' may have been that of fear and paranoia, of homesickness of literal 'grace under pressure', new album 'Leaders of the Free World' sees the band in remarkably upbeat mood. While to many a trip to Manchester is reason in itself for feelings of fear and paranoia, to Elbow coming home (as they did to record much of this new album) is a colour they wear well and one that provides a noticeable sense of relief which permeates the entire span of this release. It is no more apparent than in album opener, 'Station Approach', "I need to be in the town where they know what I'm like and don't mind," laments singer and lyricist Guy Garvey, describing the feelings of walking the approach from Manchester's Piccadilly station.
Where Elbow have previously always come into their own is in the creation of the juxtaposition between the structured beauty of their musical soundscapes and the quite often despairing lyrical slant of Guy Garvey. On 'LOTFW' this is no less apparent but the band have now evolved to the point where the music, while once often mournfully beautiful, is now at times almost playful like in 'Mexican Standoff', but the sentiment of the lyrical messages still remain as contemplative as ever as in 'Forget Myself'.
The Elbow of old, however, are never too far away as the sublime 'An Imagined Affair' exhibits. When Garvey's wild imagination is not totally centred on introspection he is letting loose on those charged with supposedly steering the world in the right direction, "The leaders of the free world are just little boys throwing stones," he sings in the chorus to the album's title track.
As a band Elbow have, over the past few years, proved to be a constantly evolving outfit. Whether the up-turn in mood exhibited on 'LOTFW' is just another stop along the evolutionary scale remains to be seen but what is undoubtedly evident on this record is a quality of music in as much abundance as the rainy streets in the town they hold so dear.