Elbow's up to something here. With their new album, Cast of Thousands, they're taking some of the last steps of rock and roll's creative evolution and making them count.
From the brilliant opener, Ribcage, you might notice that Elbow sound a bit cheerier than they did on their last release, Asleep in the Back. The chorus swells - "When the sunshine/throwing me a lifeline/finds its way into my room/all I need is you" - and just as Guy Garvey mentions opening his chest to "let the sun inside" in sweeps The London Community Gospel Choir to frame one of the album's most majestic moments.
But Elbow has always gotten a bad rap for being sweater-wearing, British mope-artists. The truth is, they're emotional and just as that can mean tortured, it can also mean tender.
Take, for instance, Switching Off, a touching, well paced ballad, presumably about assisted suicide. Sure, it's grieving, but it's grief that springs from tremendous sentiment. The epic finale Grace Under Pressure, a tower of strong percussion and vocal mastery, had last year's Glastonbury festival's crowd singing along.
Throughout the CD, nothing ever sounds tired or out of place. Elbow seems to be in complete command of their intentions and realize them quite well. It's a refreshing record, one that confirms that in 2003, rock and roll still has places to go.
