release date: Jul. 1, 2013
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: Jacquire King
label: Play It Again Sam - nationality: England, UK
Tracklist: 1. "The Weight" (4 / 5) - 2. "Sugar" (4 / 5) - 3. "A Ton of Love" (live) - 4. "What Is This Thing Called Love" (4 / 5) (live) - 5. "Honesty" (4 / 5) - 6. "Nothing" (3 / 5) - 7. "Formaldehyde" - 8. "Hyena" (2,5 / 5) - 9. "Two Hearted Spider" (4 / 5) (live) - 10. "The Phone Book" (4,5 / 5) (acoustic live version) - 11. "Bird of Prey" (3,5 / 5) (live)
4th studio album released 4 years after the bands previous album is the first on Play It Again Sam, and now with an American producer. Most of the material for a new album was already announced ready in 2010 by vocalist Tom Smith, however, the band found itself in discussions about musical direction, and without finding proper solutions the album was delayed. It's the band's first album after guitarist and keyboardist Chris Urbanowicz left the band in 2012 after some time with conflicting interests concerning the band's style. He was replaced by two new members, Justin Lockey (guitar) and Elliott Williams (multi-instrumentalist). The album is quite different from its predecessor, and in my mind, it's also quite clearly a better release than the 2009 album. The sound and style is a return to guitar-driven music with use of a wide range of additional instrumentation, and it makes the 2009 release stand much alone as an experiment and something the band hasn't incorporated or developed from. Instead this turns out more of a natural progression from the 2007 studio release An End Has a Start, and by that it signals a move away from dark post-punk toward alt. rock and a more complex post-punk revival with room for synths and orchestration. It's a fine album, and not only one of the better in 2013, it's also one of the band's best albums ever.
[ allmusic.com, SputnikMusic 3,5 / 5, NME 2 / 5, Mojo 4 / 5 stars ]
