Albums Of The Year: Number 2!

ELBOW
'The Seldom Seen Kid'

Since it's initial release, this album was my number one. No question, and it even overtook the long-running favourite. However, a recent live gig has made me have to switch them... again.

That doesn't detract from a record that is, in every sense, a masterpiece. I talked on the Number 3 entry about hyperbole, and I'm not joking when I say that Elbow have made a will-be-remembered-in-20-years classic. And it's nothing to do with them winning the Mercury Music Prize, although that award is fully deserved.

Elbow always seem to be on the cusp, a band that critics and their fans love, a band that put out inspiring and innovative records, a band that should be bigger than they are. And yet somehow that jump from respected artists to Radiohead-esque sales figures has always eluded them. And while it's unfair, given their obvious talent, I kind of like that. But not in an elitist "once they get popular I won't like them anymore" way. People know of them, people like them, but there's no expectations on their shoulders to create another million-selling monster. That keeps them innovative.

Elbow are a close-knit bunch, who work together and respect each other enormously. They've all been in this from day one, and you can sense how much they enjoy creating as a band. However, it would be remiss not to cite singer Guy Garvey as a massive driving force in Elbow. His voice absolutely soars on this album, and his lyrics are the epitome of working class storytelling, just as Lennon and McCartney were. It's a strange, completely down to earth, beautiful poetry.

'The Seldom Seen Kid' is glorious from start to finish, but has some knockout punches. First single 'Grounds For Divorce' has a bastard of a beat and a riff to die for, but real venom in the lyrics. Opening line "I've been working on a cocktail called Grounds For Divorce" sets the tone early.

The beyond beautiful "One Day Like This" gets more hopeful, with the line "Kiss me like a final meal, Kiss me like we die tonight" being the most romantic line for impending doom I think I've heard. And that's before a choir chorus join in the song's ending mantra; "Throw those curtains wide, One day like this a year would see me right".

"Friends Of Ours" is the penultimate track, and the one that affected me most. A totally stripped down ballad of sorrow for a departed friend. The almost silent, cracking vocal of Garvey simply singing "Love you, mate" is as uplifting and heartbreaking as a eulogy could be.

A stunning piece of work.