Thirty years in since their beginning, and this tenth LP with 10 tracks by the Edinburgh indie quintet of Roddy Woomble, Rod Jones and co feels like a classic Idlewild release, and, self-titled and full of strong, simple emotive melodies, a fitting milestone summary of their career, a fan-pleaser, an old-friend, a old woollen jumper fondly re-found and worn. That said, it’s not all comfort and joy, but also heartbreak, self-doubt, identity and other themes coming to the fore. Jones’ guitar sound is both angular and meaty, Woomble’s vocals passionate, excellent musicianship from the rest of the band, and there’s a wistful sensitivity as well as voluminous swagger to these numbers – from the thunderous, slower opener Stay Out of Place to the pacy, melancholy yet defiant Like I Had Before, which reflects on changing perceptions and how time alters the lens of self and the past. It’s Not The First Time feels very much like classic Idlewild, Woomble’s simple vocal melody interchanging with Jones’s riff and a call-and-answer structure, underpinned by a lilting piano and soft guitar middle eight, before a punch-the-air finale. (I Can’t Help) Back Then You Found Me is another banger of medium-pace rock, a stadium singalong marked also by stinging, high guitar solo. Interchanges of past and present are a recurring theme, not least within on I Wish I Wrote It Down, another highlight with a scything guitar and wistful memories images and yearning, filled with telling lines such as “alone to memorise that you shouldn’t be laughing if you don’t know why”. Writers of the Present Time builds on this, Permanent Colours is has a beat like a steam train shuffling through a mixtures of desire and memory and Cure-like guitar riffs (“language knows you more” and “there must be more life still to find”). Closer End With Sunrise builds with a sense of regret (“that I came back”) and yet also acceptance. Familiar and thoroughly satisfying, but also passionate and powerful, it’s one of the band’s best and most consistent releases, perfect for this landmark. Out V2 Records.
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