Grasping mainstream pop and rock with cleverly constructed styles and influences, a shrewd, highly polished new LP from the London indie band 2018 Mercury prize winners, jumps from soft, whispery piano ballads to big guitar bangers. It’s a statement of great ambition for the indie pop media favourites of late, and the sounds of big recent commercial success stories in these songs is no coincidence with producer Markus Dravs on board, whose work includes Coldplay, Arcade Fire, and Florence + the Machine. The album begins confidently in its quietness, Ellie Rowsell’s breathy whispering voice limbering up on The Beach for louder things to come, her range really coming to the fore in this album. Delicious Things begins with echoes of Groove Armada’s At The River with its sand dunes and salty air, Lipstick On The Grass’s high, big arena vocals and guitar sounds have a Florence / Goldfrapp feel, while Smile turns up the volume to remind us that the Wolf can rap, but also howl in a Muse style. But then Safe From Heartbreak, with its sweet vocal harmonies and acoustic feel is more First Aid Kit. How Can I Make It OK? reminds a little of Fleetwood Mac, while the tongue in cheek Play The Greatest Hits is a very obvious headbanging nod to punk, or at least to Amyl and The Sniffers. The Last Man On Earth is a classic, hushed-audience-waving-lighters piano ballad, ready to build and soar. An album designed to sell big, but while cleverly derivative, not realistically a sell out as that has perhaps always been their ambition, and this being their best of the London band’s three so far. Out on Dirty Hit.
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