The Radiohead drummer’s third solo studio LP is awash with slow, cinematic, lush orchestration, his almost whispered voice with a steady flow of sensitive, melancholy but also hope-filled songs. It’s on a larger scale than his previous two, and on the back of writing scores for the Rambert Dance Company and soundtracks for the films Let Me Go and Carmilla, there’s a rich blend of strings, brass and synthesised sounds, originally written at home on piano and guitar, though imagined himself drumming on collaborative project between Carole King pioneering electronic composer Daphne Oram. But here Selway’s guests include Hannah Peel, Quinta, Marta Salogni, Valentina Magaletti longtime friends Laura Moody and guitarist Adrian Utley, the LCO conducted by Robert Ames, the Assemble Choir with arrangements by Juliet Russell, and the Elysian Collective. The idea is to take the listener through a variety of moods and seasons, with gentle references to light and weather, from melancholy Check For Signs of Life to the pulsing Picking Up Pieces to ballad The Other Side, the dark, scraping sounds of the title track, to the rainbow-evoking closing number There’ll Be Better Days. Emotive, epic, gentle and grand. Out on Bella Union.
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained in About/FAQs ...
Feel free to recommend more new songs and albums and comment below. You can also use the contact page, or find more on social media: Song Bar Twitter, Song Bar Facebook. Song Bar YouTube, and Song Bar Instagram. Please subscribe, follow and share.
Song Bar is non-profit and is simply about sharing great music. We don’t do clickbait or advertisements. Please make any donation to help keep the Bar running: