Elbow are back with their 8th studio album and, along with offering Elbows usual exposed, heartfelt masterpieces, it brings us a more aggressive, heavier approach by Garvey et al. Garvey has been very open about his past two years and how this new album is influenced by death, fatherhood, Brexit and other political/social mishaps. First track 'Dexter & Sinister' is a hard-hitting guitar groover with occasional blend of strings and piano. Lyrically Garvey is attacking Brexit and the social upheaval it has caused. He says he feels like 'a bird in a hurricane' and how he 'doesn't know Jesus anymore'. The track builds up and up masterfully (as Elbow do) leading into a falsetto filled coda. On the second track, Seven Veils, we are reintroduced to the soft sadness of Garvey's beautiful voice as he sings 'there are no roses in this garden, no sun melting in the sea'. His vocal is accompanied by a vast instrumental with various polyphonic melodies creating a bursting, meandering classic that is closed with a peaceful piano part. 'The Delayed 3:15' is, lyrically, one of my favourite tracks on the album. Garvey has told how he wrote the song while on a train that was delayed by a suicide on the track. His comical take on British railways describing 'spray paint swastikas and cocks' is soon overshadowed as the song progresses. He finishes the song with the words 'I tried to find your name, You didn't make the news, You're just the man whose blues, Stopped his heart beneath our shoes'. Guy Garvey's poetic ability is as flawless as ever. 'White Noise White Heat' is not a particularly ground-breaking track musically but it is a lament to the Grenfell tragedy as Garvey explains he was 'born with a trust that didn't survive'. 'The white heat of injustice' line is a perfect example of Elbow's more politically active stance on this new album. Another gorgeous work of art by Elbow is closed with 'Weightless', a passionate, stripped-back dedication to Garvey's late father. This mournful yet inspiring gem is an astounding way to finish an emotional rollercoaster of an album.
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