FOR someone almost universally regarded as an everybloke, Guy Garvey’s personal circumstances don’t exactly align with those of the world in general.
Whereas 2014’s disappointing The Take Off And Landing Of Everything emerged during – and reflected – a time of upheaval in the Elbow frontman’s life, its return-to-form follow-up finds him lovestruck and contented. Shame about everything else that’s going on, really.
The everything-else-that’s-going-on creeps into Little Fictions on K2, a rambling but intriguing stream-of-consciousness affair where Garvey muses “They gambled the farm on a headline” and “I’m from a land with an island status/Makes us think that everyone hates us”. Hope Boris and Nige haven’t picked up their copy yet because they won’t be pleased about that one.
But on the whole, Little Fictions blends the Elbow we expect – the warm textures, the comfortingly sardonic lyricism and observations about life’s small things, the ability to let us know what they’re on about even if we’re not always sure what they’re on about – with, if not so much an Elbow 2.0, then certainly an Elbow 1.5.
Elbow: "Warm textures, comfortingly sardonic lyricism and observations about life’s small things"
If Elbow haven’t changed musical direction – because, let’s face it, they never will – they’ve certainly shuffled across the pavement slightly. The anthems and the acoustic strumming have been replaced with songs that resolutely stick to the same pace throughout and a sound that’s crisper and more kinetic, with electric guitars, drum loops, percussive piano and, on the excellent Gentle Storm, cowbells.
They sound refreshed and revitalised where their previous album came across as jaded, with Magnificent (She Says), Firebrand And Angel and the title track being songs to wrap around yourself, while the chiming All Disco is Venus In Furs: The M62 Mix. Garvey, meanwhile, has never sung better. His words just wouldn’t work in any other singer’s larynx.
Little Fictions won’t change perceptions of Elbow or win them any new followers. It does differ from their previous work, just in far too subtle a way to convert naysayers into believers. But it’s an album you feel better for having listened to; an album that makes sense of a world you still want to recognise.
Elbow play Dalby Forest, near Pickering, as part of the Forestry Commission's Forest Live summer season, on June 24. Tickets: boxoffice.forestry.gov.uk/en-GB/shows/elbow/events
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here