What does it sound like?

Not terribly much like a DC comics concept album, though that was apparently the original intention. There are recurrent themes and characters, but don’t let that put you off. Mostly there are a lot of good tunes, and a surprising amount of interesting sounds that some of their more straightforward Britpop contemporaries lived without. This has a hand full of hits (Wide Open Space, Taxloss, Mansun’s Only Love Song) with singalong choruses, good tunes and a fair dollop of humour. The hidden track Open Letter to the Lyrical Trainspotter (“The lyrics aren’t supposed to mean that much, They’re just a vehicle for a lovely voice”) show them able to laugh at both themselves and us at the same time. There is a very British preoccupation with vicars in drag (Stripper Vicar and Dark Mavis).

The songs aim for the epic, and generally get there, which might get a bit wearing but they avoid that because there is a lot going on in the background. Bass lines that remind me of Air, melodies that skirt “Walk on By”, interesting bits of almost hip hop. I wasn’t a fan before but repeated plays made me enjoy it » Continue Reading.