The Seldom Seen Kid
 | By Elbow Geffen Records, 2008, Audio CD Customer Rating: 77 reviews Recommend |
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Acclaimed for their innovative sound and candid, evocative lyrics, Elbow has received vast critical acclaim and been endorsed by major artists Blur, R.E.M. and U2. Elbow return with a new album, "The Seldom Seen Kid", their follow up to 2005's universally acclaimed Leaders Of The Free World and first for Fiction/Geffen Records. In support of the new set Elbow will be coming stateside kicking things off with a show in New York City April 26, 2008 at Webster Hall.
"New Elbow is sublime!!" - SUPERNOVA
"Their latest effort deserves to trigger a large-scale love affair. Elbow are at the top of their game" - UNCUT MAGAZINE
"Every now and then a great band like Elbow comes along. I am a big fan so its no surprise that I totally love the first song to surface from their upcoming album, The Seldom Seen Kid" - EACH NOTE SECURE
There are few things in life quite so liberating as the opening track on an Elbow album — they're like airlocks between the plainness of the outside world and the elaborate melancholic heave-ho that you are likely about to submerge yourself in. Following predecessors "Any Day Now", "Ribcage" and "Station Approach", "Starlings" opens their fourth album The Seldom Seen Kid rising from a bed of tumbling electronic subtlety like a depressed Atari game loading up, adding bare touches of piano, glimpses of ambient guitar, out of body background vocals, an understated pulse and a wisp of strings, before — EXCELSIS! — a fanfare avalanche of horns crashes the gate and elevates things to gasping palatial heights, before Guy Garvey's inimitable gravel tone and wrenchingly poetic reinterpretations of the everyday announce their arrival proper. It's astonishing, by far the most progressive moment on the album and if anything it sets the bar too high. But even when the pace dips, and songs like "Mirrorball" and "Weather to Fly" don't distinguish themselves quite enough, their textural peerlessness remains. This is a beautiful sounding record. Their collaboration with Richard Hawley may be more of a curiosity than a thing of beauty, but the highs, the riffing cross-stitch of "Ground for Divorce", the desolate grandeur of "The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver" and the enlightened string-laden anthem "On a Day Like This" (like their own Sound of Music — only substitute the Alpine peaks for a Manchester high-rise) number amongst the best of their career. — James Berry
- Starlings
- The Bones of You
- Mirrorball
- Grounds for Divorce
- An Audience with the Pope
- Weather to Fly
- The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
- The Fix
- Some Riot
- One Day Like This
- Friend of Ours
Title: The Seldom Seen Kid
Sales Rank: 770 in Music
Artist: Elbow
Label: Geffen Records, 2008-04-22, Audio CD, 1 Disc
Package Dimensions: 5.55 x 4.97 x 0.54 inches, 0.18 pounds
- The regularly heard album
- Atmospheric. Haunting. I find it difficult to describe Elbow's THE SELDOM SEEN BOY without falling back on vaporous language that neither describes nor illuminates. But, simply, put this is one of the most interesting albums I've listened to in quite a long time.
THE SELDOM SEEN BOY is a magnificently produced indie album that just manages to avoid being over done.… More reviews
- Outstanding as usual for Elbow
- Elbow is consistently sensitive, but also rocking. Caution, though: don't listen to track 1 on this CD while you're driving, or if you're jumpy.… More reviews
- Can't stop listening to this!
- The more i listen to listen to this, the more i hear! Weather to fly, grounds for divorce and one day like this...Amazing songs!! More reviews
- "The Spanish Archer"
- "El-Bow!"
Ok, well, I meant 3 and a half stars really, but I always tend to over-club. In this case, its fair enough I suppose. Look, what I mean is this. This album is produced and performed really well, I like the Manc grittyness of the singer because I can relate to it, I found the first 2 tracks immensely personal to me, which I always like… More reviews
- Best CD of 08
- Saw this group playing on the Sundance Channel and took a chance on this CD based on the three songs I heard. This is a wonderful CD aimed at people longing for something not aimed at "tweens," indies or hip hop. (although some of the lyrics might make an English teacher cringe). It's rock 'n' roll like it should be for the new century - slightly bluesy,… More reviews
