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Review by Jack Foley |
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TURIN Brakes must be one the most successful bands not to be hogging the
limelight. Rather like their music, the two-piece from Balham have quietly
gone about taking the industry by storm, emerging as one of the most effortlessly
cool bands to emerge on the British music scene for some time.
Their debut album, The Optimist, has sold
200,000 copies without ever making it higher than 27 in the album chart, and
was nominated for both a Mercury Music Prize and a Brits. Tours have subsequently
sold out.
Such was the quality of Gale Paridjanian and Olly Knights' songwriting, that
record companies were queuing up to sign them, and producers couldn't wait
to work with them. Hence, we now have a truly brilliant second album, which
will probably rate among the year's finest when the time comes out to dish
out such accolades.
Certainly more accessible than The Optimist, Ether Song has
been put together with the help of Tony Hoffer, Beck's producer, who has also
worked with the likes of Supergrass, and feels much more accomplished as a
result.
The lush acoustic guitars and simple harmonies which displayed so much potential
on the first album are brought to the fore here, sounding much fresher and
more confident than first time out, and complemented by some outstanding background
instruments.
Take, for instance, the recent single, Painkiller, which made the top
five and which was inspired by a classic Beatles number, which just feels
great to listen to, evoking memories of the summer sun (despite its rain-heavy
chorus).
Knights' yearning vocals have seldom sounded stronger, while Paridjanian's
guitar work is truly uplifting. It is the type of track you could easily listen
to over and over, while the addition of some flutes early on merely add to
the all-round quality. It is, quite possibly, the best track on the album,
building to a really great finale. I can't wait to hear it live.
Yet whereas The Optimist displayed only pockets of brilliance (in my opinion),
Ether Song resonates with quality throughout. Painkiller is quickly
followed by the seductive Full of Stars, a tranquil, dreamy classic
boasting such lamentful lyrics as 'I'm gonna get me a bone today, under
the big blue sky, under the tree where my last love laid, now where beneath
the leaves she lies'.
They even switch to electric guitars for tracks such as Little Brother,
as evidence of a growing confidence in their ability, and know how to finish
an album in style. Track 12, Rain City, is a beguiling little number,
but by no means the end of the story, for hidden track, 13, provides a suitably
grandiose finale, starting slowly and giving way to a quite brilliant conclusion
(during which the electric guitar makes a return).
Other highlights include the folksy Self Help, which provides an insight
into the potential trappings of success the duo face ('Tell yourself you
will be OK, Remind yourself that you're not just in it for the money'),
and the breezy opening track, Blue Hour.
If you liked the last Beck album, and are into the likes of Coldplay or Simon
and Garfunkel, then this is the album for you. The new acoustic movement has
seldom sounded so essential.
Track listing:
1. Blue Hour
2. Average Man
3. Long Distance
4. Self Help
5. Falling Down
6. Stone Thrown
7. Clear Blue Air
8. Pain Killer
9. Full Of Stars
10. Panic Attack
11. Little Brother
12. Rain City
RELATED STORIES: Click here
for a review of Turin Brakes at Brixton Academy (March '03)...
Click here for our verdict on The Optimist
LP...