More on: Guillemots

Label: Polydor
Release Date: 17/07/06
Rating:

Not so much 'Through The Windowpane' as wafting delicately along your ear canal, this Mercury-nominated album attempts to merge classical musicianship and indie, without the pant-wettingly flimsy sentiments that normally come with trying to amalgamate the two.

Whilst this album is epic in places - such as the opening of 'Little Bear' - the climactic musicianship drawing inevitable comparisons with Sigur Ros' 'Hoppipolla', the depth of the songwriting allows you to have a simultaneous slideshow flicking through your mind, the sheer melodrama shaming all the soap operas in the land.

As Fyfe Dangerfield (a superhero's alias if ever there's been one) sings of "poetry in an empty Coke can" in latest single 'Made Up Lovesong #43', you do start to draw comparisons with the musical form of beige that is Keane. But whilst Tom Chaplin makes the listener more inclined to snuggle up round the fire with a mug of hot chocolate, whilst contemplating whether to watch a 'Last Of The Summer Wine' re-run or just go to bed, Guillemots have the dual ability to incite crying and dancing on the same album. 'Trains To Brazil' is a fantastic pop symphony that makes you want to throw that hot beverage aside, grab a Bacardi and boogie like you're at some sort of jazz-rave, as Dangerfield sings of "feeling old" at "1 o'clock on a Friday morning". Not anymore, you're not.

'Through The Windowpane' is impossible to have as mere background music, as the sheer nature of the songwriting is enough to stop you in your tracks and carry you along in a song's narrative. It could even be the soundtrack of your life, if you're particularly unfortunate in the romance department.

However, sentimentality can overwhelm at times, with the need for a pick-me-up towards the end of the album met with despair-tinged melancholy and the urge to have a long, hard, cry.

Wendy Davies

Guillemots Official Site