| |
|
Music Archives:
Most Recent
| Highest
Rated | Alphabetical
| Highest Rated 2006
Promises to Keep
 |
|
Idlewild: Warnings/Promises
Capitol, 2005
Rating: 3.7
|
|
Posted:
September 24,
2005
By
Kevin Forest Moreau
If ever there were a band whose name perfectly summed up the tensions
inherent in its music, that band is Idlewild. The Scottish quintet continues
to garner comparisons to R.E.M., presumably for its steady, ambitious march
toward arena-courting rock on its own artistic terms. (Goodness knows the
two bands don't sound remotely alike, despite rather curious insistence to
the contrary from the U.K. music press.) As it works to refine (or retain)
the anthemic approach that yielded Bic-friendly songs like "The World in
Your Arms" and "American English" on its last album,
The Remote Part,
Idlewild also maintains residence in the fields of spirited,
indie-influenced guitar-rock while also holding onto singer Roddy Woomble's
predilection for wordy poetics.
If those elements don't exactly sound complementary, well, there you have
the aforementioned tension. Striking the right balance between those
extremes is tricky (as R.E.M. could tell you), and requires no small amount
of finesse -- a skill Idlewild is still learning to acquire, if its newest
effort, Warnings/Promises, is any indication. Just as Woomble's
penchant for dense lyrical thickets ("All the walls in your house / are
painted in deep blue / you're at that indecisive age / to choose colors that
reflect you / and everything and nothing / is in the space between all
things") undercuts his gift for soaring melodies, so does the push and pull
of its competing musical currents hold back Warnings/Promises from
achieving either the sweeping uplift of Part or the contagious
post-punk of 2000's bracing 100 Broken Windows.
That drama plays out most noticeably on songs like the above-quoted "The
Space Between All Things," which sways along at a leisurely mid-tempo pace
before stepping aside for an enjoyable but low-key guitar workout, and the
"Too Long Awake," submerged in insistent guitar effects but never lifting
off out of its agreeable drone. Likewise, the sing-along opener "Love Steals
Us From Loneliness" aims for something approximating the all-enveloping
whirl of "World in Your Arms" but never ignites, and "I Want a Warning"
rides a screeching guitar riff that never lives up to its promise of
abandon.
Yes, there's a warning in that unfulfilled promise, a warning that Idlewild
might be at war with itself, unable to let go of its more raucous past,
stubbornly refusing to wholeheartedly embrace a future of chart-topping
arena success. But that's not necessarily the case. More likely,
Warnings/Promises is a transitional record, charting the necessary
growing pains any band endures as it progresses.
And to be sure, there's a lot to like here, from the effortlessly alluring
"El Capitan" to the breezy balladry of "Welcome Home," "As If I Hadn't
Slept" and the affecting "Disconnected," each of which dares the listener
not to sing along, loudly and with great passion, during the money parts.
There's not a dull song here, even if some tracks' charms aren't as
immediately evident as others. Idlewild may still be figuring out exactly
how to juggle its conflicting elements, but there are more than enough truly
bright spots on Warnings/Promises to remind the listener of what the
band is capable of when it fires on all cylinders -- and even when it
doesn't.
Site
design copyright © 2001-2007 Shaking Through.net. All original artwork,
photography and text used on this site is the sole copyright of the respective creator(s)/author(s). Reprinting, reposting, or citing any of the original
content appearing on this site without the written consent of Shaking
Through.net is strictly forbidden. Contact us at
shaking@shakingthrough.net if
you wish to use any of the material published here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
