Elbow: a live review

LIVE REVIEWS

Elbow live at the Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA

May 29, 2014 By Stephen Humphries

“Charge,” the first song of Elbow’s concert, is aptly titled. The British band storms the audience with startling vigor, urged on by Richard Jupp kicking his bass drum with the force of a Clydesdale. Midway through the new track, a pair of female violinists seated at the rear of the stage swoop in. Their dramatic musical squall increases the barometric pressure inside the room. The audience somehow finds its breath for a loud cheer.

Read the full review at Under the Radar magazine's site...

Now on Newsstands: Elbow interview

When I interviewed Elbow's Guy Garvey about the band's sixth studio album, The Take Off and Landing of Everything, he said, "It’s a dense first listen, I will say that, but utterly rewarding." 

The album is, indeed, a grower. At first, I was disappointed that The Take off and Landing of Everything doesn't boast the immediate wow factor of Build a Rocket Boys! tracks such as "The Birds," "Lippy Kids,"  "With Love" and "Neat Little Rows." But now that I've spent some time with the new album, I'm smitten with it. Some of the tracks that initially passed me by, such as "Colour Fields" and "Real Life (Angel)" and "This Blue World" and "Blanket of Night," are now among my favorites. And the single, "New York Morning," will sneak up on you and become your ears' new best friend - take a listen to the music video, below. 

If the album has a weakness it's this: It doesn't take Elbow to too many new places - honorable exceptions "Lunette/Fly Boy Blue" and "The Blanket of Night" - but the band compensates with gorgeous melodies and Guy Garvey's never-more-soulful singing. Indeed, The Take off and Landing of Everything is consistently strong. I love every track. (Tip: Doesn't work well as a background listen. Headphones and a dark space are a must.)

True to Garvey's word, the album is utterly rewarding.

My interview with Guy Garvey about the making of the album is in the new issue of Under the Radar magazine (more details on its contents here), which is now on newsstands or available as an e-version (download the magazine's new app for free.) 

Also, here's a bonus interview I did with the band for the magazine in which Garvey talks about his favorite cities and the songs he associates with each of them.

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Now on newsstands: Elbow and Blackfield interviews

I wrote lengthy features about Elbow and Blackfield for the new issue of Prog magazine, now on UK newsstands (£5.99 in WHSmith) and very soon available on US newsstands, including Barnes & Noble. Or, if you can't wait that long, just download the issue onto your Kindle or iPad via iTunes.

I thought I'd share a few tidbits from both interviews that ended up on the cutting-room floor...

BLACKFIELD

I wrote about the new album by Blackfield, the band consisting of Aviv Geffen and Steven Wilson, which marks a new era for the band. Technically, Blackfield isn't supposed to be a duo anymore. Wilson stated that he'd only be a guest contributor on this new album because he is focused on his very successful solo career. Turns out that the situation isn't that simple - as I explain in my article, Wilson was extensively involved in Blackfield IV. The album includes guest vocals by Vincent Cavanagh from Anathema, Brett Anderson from Suede, and Jonathan Donahue from Mercury Rev. I chatted to Geffen at his home in Tel Aviv - here's a few excerpts that didn't make it into the piece.

“In a way, it’s the most balanced album," said Geffen, his accent as heavy as the black eyeliner he often wears on stage. "It has songs like ‘Pills,’ which is the classic Blackfield sound, and on the last song you’ve got some dubstep. There are many angles on this album.”

Geffen is definitely the leader of the group now and that portends some stylistic changes. As he explained, “I’m a good friend of Coldplay, for example, and I think Blackfield should go in that path.”

ELBOW

I also interviewed Guy Garvey, the singer of Elbow, about each of the British band's albums and got a glimpse into the progressive direction of their next record. Elbow is one of Britain's biggest bands but, alas, hasn't become anything close to a household name in the USA. (Elbow's "Grounds for Divorce" was, however, recently used for a jeans ad on US television.)

If you've not listened to Elbow, seek them out. Their distinctive sound consists of the Peter-Gabriel-like vocals of Guy Garvey, one of rock's most literate lyricists, and the exploration of the space between notes. Their understanding of light-and-shade dynamics (which is influenced by Talk Talk) creates an intimate grandeur. If you've never heard them, check out the videos at the end of this piece.

Garvey is always a wonderful interview (here's a link to my previous chat with him) so I thought I'd share some of the stuff that didn't make it into my story.

Guy Garvey on...

Elbow's mega-hit "One Day Like This":

"The effect is has on an audience, especially in an arena, is so overwhelming. It's an extension of the themes that we tried to include on Cast of Thousands. I think, a lot of the time, a band will shy away from big, joyous sing-a-longs. I think, sometimes that's right. But often it's wrong. It's quite vain and, in many ways, it's a little selfish to deny those moments. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people got married to that song, for obvious reasons. That's more important than the fact that it accompanied two Olympic games with the BBC, it's more important than the fact that people have covered it, that's it's blown up and changed our fortunes. The best thing about it is that ordinary people fell in love to, and got married to, our music.

On the album format:

I read some statistics the other day, 16 to 25 year olds are going back to the album as a format. It was a music industry survey. And 16 to 25 year olds are missing that feeling of ownership. They're realizing that, if you listen to an album from start to finish, you can lose yourself within it and maybe even change the way you think about something. We've always been an album band.  We're very good friends with I am Kloot. You probably know that Craig and I produced their records. For them, song is the end product. The recording is a version of the song. But the song is the art. Whereas, for us, the album is the end product and everything else is just versions of that.  

About the next album, which was mooted to have a song titled "Cold Morning" on it:

"Cold Morning"? Wow. It's actually been sidelined. I am sure it will be [a future B-side]. This is something about the album-writing process. You start somewhere, you have enough songs for a record and then you take the best one and that becomes your benchmark - everything has to reach that grade. And you keep doing that until you're told that you're out of time and that's when you start finessing your record, tying up the loose ends. We would never actually release an album without deadlines! We would just keep improving it forever.

About his song contributions to King Kong: The Musical:

3D - Robert Del Naja - from Massive Attack, I did some singing and writing for their last record. Love working with those boys. Rob's got a very free way of working. The first time I went to that studio, I sang for nine hours over various beats and bits of demo music they had. I used all the lyrics that I hadn't used on the previous Elbow record. Some woeful themes and we discovered some melodies. Rob says he's still harvesting from that one session. Every now and then, he'll be working on a tune and he'll see what he hasn't used from that session and they'll chop it up and retune it and sometimes even re-sing it and sometimes they don't. 

Rob called me up and said, 'I'm involved in King Kong: The Musical.' We both laughed for five minutes. He said, 'It looks spectacular. The ape's going to be great.' He said, 'I've never done anything like this and they're asking for a lyricist.' I said, 'Well, I have absolutely no experience of musical theater. I've never been to a musical. ' I said, 'Yeah, why not. It's a bit of a challenge.' 

The director was really enthusiastic about the song I've written for them. It was really good fun. It was so different than writing songs from my perspective for Elbow. I was given a character with a backstory. I was allowed to extend the backstory, as well, in order to find a lyric. Who knows what it'll sound like when it's finished, but Marius de Vries, the musical director, has worked with Elbow before. He's a wonderful man. I love working with him and I love working with Rob. It looks stunning. My first musical theater experience will be going to see a musical with some of my words in it!

When is Elbow going to sell a Rubik's cube modeled on the cube on the cover for The Seldom Seen Kid?

I had the exact same idea! They made some mock-ups, but Rubik's refused to manufacture a pure white cube. We got in touch with them and they said the only way they could do it would be to sell us naked Rubik's Cubes and they would sell us white stickers and we'd have to put them on by hand. No one at the record company was prepared to do that! So, the band have got one each. There's about 10 in existence. I've got one in my bedroom at home.

NEAT LITTLE ROWS


LIPPY KIDS


THE BONES OF YOU


MIRRORBALL


FORGET MYSELF

My Interview with Elbow

This week, the British band Elbow released its fifth album, build a rocket boys!, and, like its predecessors, it's a special record. (Never heard them before? Take a listen to this live-in-the-studio version of the new track "Lippy Kids" above. It's a great showcase for the voice of Guy Garvey, one of England's most soulful singers.)

For starters, the epic opener, "The Birds," is one of the best things they've ever done. I also love the single, "Neat Little Rows." There's a delightful whimsical pop song called "With Love" that is mainly built on the interview and interplay of multiple vocalists and features the Hallé Youth Orchestra.

Throughout the album there are some fabulous cascading guitar and piano riffs and motifs, like on "High Ideals." A few songs in the middle stretch -- “The Night Will Always Win,” “The River,” and “Jesus was a Rochdale Girl” -- are growers. The closing track, "Dear Friends," is a beaut. Classic Elbow.

In addition to my interview with Guy Garvey in the current issue of Under the Radar (see below), I also did a separate piece using leftover material from the interview for the magazine's website, which you can read here.

Elbow triumphs in LA

There wasn't much Elbow room at the Wiltern Theater last night. Taking a night off from their regular slot as Coldplay's opening act, Elbow filled the cavernous Art Deco venue for their own headlining show. One of the greatest bands to emerge this decade, Elbow toiled away in rock's minor leagues until they unexpectedly became the UK's biggest band. Credit a carpe diem set at the televised Glastonbury festival followed by the prestigious Mercury Prize for best album of 2008. It's an unlikely feat for these five middle-aged Mancunians, a few of them portly in stature, who I once interviewed as "the best band you've never heard."

They're hardly well-known here in the US but, like their good friends Doves, who played a sterling show here in May, they're slowly getting better known stateside. The band's singer, Giy Garvey, has one of the most emotionally honest and beautiful voices in rock. As I noted during my review of the band's debut, "Asleep in the Back," Elbow's arrangements explore the space between notes and their understanding of light-and-shade dynamics add up to an intimate grandeur.
The evening started with Elbow's Guy Garvey coming on stage to introduce opener Jesca Hoop, who released my favorite album of 2007. Since Hoop's only accompaniment was acoustic guitar and a girl friend on backing vocals, Garvey appealed to the audience to give her due attention. Jesca was stunning. Just one old song -- "Seeds of Wonder" -- and then a set of avant-garde pop from her imminent record, "Hunting My Dress." One of those songs "Murder of Birds," which appears on Hoop's recent acoustic EP, features Garvey and he came came on stage to duet with her. (Hear it here.)
Good thing Jesca had a backing vocalist -- well, more of a co-vocalist, really. On record, her songs are all about vocal harmonies and counterpoints and the other girl did a great job of helping create a rich vocal tapestry. I went to see Jesca perform at a small venue -- the Hotel Cafe -- tonight, during which she did an expanded set (including some songs off her debut, "Kismet"). Now I have two of her new songs looping repeatedly in my head, which bodes well for her new record.This was my third time seeing Elbow since 2002 and their set list featured many of my favorite songs, including "The Bones of You," and "Loneliness of the Crane Driver," and "Mirrorball" (Garvey said that song is about the morning after falling in love). Alas, they didn't play "Fugitive Motel" and "Great Expectations," which the band played this morning during a performance on KCRW radio -- watch or listen to their performance here. (Incidentally, Garvey hosts a brilliant 2-hour show -- Guy Garvey's Finest Hour -- on BBC Radio 6 every Sunday night. It's a weekly listen for me, since my music tastes are pretty synchronous with his.) Guy Garvey was in great voice throughout the night and a warm and talkative presence on stage. During one song, he walked down the entire length of the stage shaking hands with each member of the front row. For "One Day Like This," he brought two random audience members on stage to sing along.

Elbow has two girl violinists, who also do backing vocals, on this tour and they certainly add lovely textures to the material. Biggest surprise was the reworked version of "Weather to Fly." They broke the song in two. For the first part, the whole hand huddled around the keyboard and did a stripped down version with just percussion and Guy's vocals. Gorgeous. Then they did the electric version.
"Grounds for Divorce" was a highlight of the evening with the crowd enthusiastically singing the "whoa-oh-oh-oh" parts. It sounded immense! There was also a stellar selection of a few older songs, including personal favorites such as "Station Approach" and "Newborn." The liquid lead guitar lines in "Newborn" were indescribably beautiful and the rock-out coda had me punching the air. They also played "The Stops," "Leaders of the Free World," "Switching Off" (which Guy said is about one's final thought before death, about a loved one), and "Mexican Standoff." Most songs were even better live and Pete Turner's heavy bass riffing worked a treat on tracks like "Leaders of the Free World." Final song of the night was a very soulful "Scattered Black and Whites."My wife loved the show as Elbow is a favorite band of hers. And, corny as it sounds, we made out during the "we kissed like we invented it" line in "Mirrorball."