Elbow Releases The Seldom Seen Kid

In the 1990s, bands like Radiohead and Oasis ushered in the Brit-Rock Revival, a response to the Grunge phenomenon that swept America at the time. The Brit sound combined the best elements of punk while paying respect to its musical forebears, namely the Beatles and the Smiths. It was highly melodic and marinated in a wash of electric guitars and symphony orchestras.

Manchester, UK, natives Elbow came along after this initial wave had died off. The band got its start in 1991, but it wasn't until 2001 that its debut record Asleep in the Back was released, a masterful collection of well-honed alternative rock that earned the band Mercury and Brit Award nominations. Seven years and three albums later, Elbow returns with The Seldom Seen Kid, a near-masterpiece and its finest to date.

Evocative lyrics, solid melodies Propel The Seldom Seen Kid

Comprised of lead singer and lyricist Guy Garvey, guitarist Mark Potter, bassist Pete Turner, keyboardist Craig Potter, and drummer Richard Jupp, Elbow has crafted an effortless album of melodic rock and roll that refuses to cling to any formula. The Seldom Seen Kid begins with the deceptively quiet "Starlings," featuring a tranquil keyboard loop laid over a slow drum groove and multi-tracked "aahhs" courtesy of Garvey before a clangor of horns disrupts the scene. It's a winkingly brilliant start. Garvey sings: "I sat you down and told you how the truest love that's ever found is for oneself. You pulled apart my theory with a weary and disinterested sigh." The nearly 6-minute track seesaws between delicate and caterwauling moments, echoing the push and pull of Garvey's trademark evocative lyrics.

From there Elbow dive into "The Bones of You," a more standard 6/8-time affair that sees the band at its most dramatic. Backed by a chorus of singers, Garvey laments, "I love the bones of you that I will never escape. And it's you, and it's me, and we're sleeping through the day. And I'm five years ago and three thousand miles away." Mark Potter's guitar work seals the song together while Jupp's whip-crack drumming propels it toward a bombastic conclusion.

Eclectic songs Keep The Seldom Seen Kid from Falling flat

Elbow fearlessly walk the line between being delicate balladeers and full-frontal rockers on The Seldom Seen Kid. "Mirrorball" captures the band as the former, revolving around a simple finger-picked acoustic guitar line and augmented by a lovely chamber orchestra. It is here that Garvey is at his best, with his rich tenor delivering the song's signature line, "When we make the moon our mirror ball, the street's an empty stage. The city sirens--violins. Everything has changed."

Then the band changes tack with "Grounds for Divorce," a Zeppelinesque romp that finds Garvey admitting, "There's a hole in my neighborhood down which of late I cannot help but fall," before the electric guitars come crashing down.

In less capable hands, such dramatic shifts in feel and tone could leave the listener disinterested. Yet Elbow meld their eclectic pursuits seamlessly through effective track sequencing and a strong focus on melody. On the album's penultimate track "One Day Like This," Garvey sings, "Holy cow I love your eyes, and only now I see the light. Lying with you half awake, stumbling over what to say. Well, anyway, it's looking like a beautiful day." With The Seldom Seen Kid, for Elbow it's looking like a beautiful career.

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