The Fugitive Motel

Guillemots – Red (Polydor)
March 24th, 2008
5.0/6.0

First album Through The Windowpane was a solid debut and certainly deserved its Mercury Music Prize nomination in 2006 (eventually losing out to some low-key pesky Sheffield foursome…) As good as the album was, for me, it was just a bit too sleepy. There were some cracking singles and beautiful ballads, but it just didn’t seem that new and exciting.

Whereas album number two has truly broken this mould and is a brilliantly different and varied second album. Each track is distinct and exciting – certainly no temptation to snooze off into MOR-indie land.

Album opener Kriss Kross is an over-the-top belter – a cacophony of sounds that somehow all pulls together. It sounds like a Kossack pop anthem. Continuing the Guillemots world tour, Clarion whisks us off to the Far East, thus making a soulful ditty into a more quirky pop tune with the addition of some music straight from a (hypothetical) Chinese restaurant. Um, in a good way.

Such influences are also present in Cockateels – a song which sounds like a Roger Moore Bond theme (that one might just be to my ears though). The album mixes up genres, keeping the listener on their tones. One minute they’re doing Scissor Sisters pop (Last Kiss), the next a dirty, slutty R and B number (Big Dog) and the next minute a beautiful, dreamy ballad (Falling Out of Reach).

Whilst this may be a bit too much chopping and changing for some people, I think it’s refreshing and interesting – it keeps the listener on their toes. This musical genre-busting also goes for singer Fyfe Dangerfield (part time pop star, part time secret agent?). On Through The Windowpane, like the album, he at times sounded a bit whingey and sleepy. On this album, however, he’s swapped that tone for a more ballsy, gritty edge. Well, except on Standing On The Last Star, where he reaches notes that the Bee Gees would be proud of.

Red is incredibly well produced, and sounds like the band have enjoyed experimenting with different sounds and genres. A real treat to listen to, and an exciting new step for a band with the potential to pull more surprises out the bag.

words: Catherine Bolsover

Guillemots tour the UK this May – dates are available on their MySpace.

www.guillemots.co.uk
www.myspace.com/guillemots

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