Under valued.  Under appreciated. Unnoticed. Call it what you will. Elbow have never been afforded the success deserved to them despite an impeccable run of albums stretching back to 2000 with their remarkable, Mercury-nominated debut Asleep In The Back. It is quite strange. Not least because they have consistently evidenced a leaning towards anthemia in their work, and even in their more melancholic moments – of which there are plenty on this release – there is a definite accessible quality. But if we are to judge the mood of the good ship Elbow on the strength of their new record, then it would appear that Garvey and company have never been more contented. An apparent lack of relative success appears not to matter a jot as The Seldom Seen Kid is further compelling evidence of Elbow’s ever expanding and maturing talents.

Singer Guy Garvey has spoken openly of a sense of pride to accompany this record, which incidentally also renews the band’s partnership with Fiction records. It is very much an in-house affair. The recording process was carried out at the band’s facility in Salford’s Blueprint Studios with production duties being assigned exclusively to keyboard player Craig Potter. With an absence of outside influence then it is understandable that Garvey sees this as a labour of love. So he might as well. The genuine sentiment, belief, conviction and an understated confidence throughout define the album, the pride that Garvey has talked about all too evident.

Taken at face value, the choice of Potter to produce looks like the conservative option. 'Let’s keep it all together and get back to what we know' - was how the band’s thought process may have been perceived in some quarters. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Potter excels. There is a diversity here - an ambition - that outstrips the band’s previous output. He clearly knows when to leave things alone and when there is need for intervention. Of course, being in the band himself is bound to help but sonically it is hard to envisage any worthwhile improvement had they decided on a big-name outsider to take the reigns.

Melancholia is, for the most part, the order of the day here.  Garvey’s musings on the trappings of love are present as usual, his uniquely black sense of humour thankfully as wicked as ever and there are offerings on friends who have passed and observations on their beloved (or maybe beleaguered) Manchester.

Potter breathes life into Starlings – the album’s opener, employing short bursts of frenzied orchestration in between Garvey’s tales of a lover whom he wishes he hadn’t ‘dreamt about marrying in an orange grove.’ The lovely ballad Mirrorman finds Garvey at his heartfelt best as he recalls fleeting moments of unbridled love, ‘We took the town to town last night and kissed like we invented it’. The album is full of these moments. Instances where there is a line, a guitar hook or change in direction that makes you sit up and listen just when it appears that things just might be slipping into autopilot mode.

Lead single Grounds for Divorce offers some needed bite to the opening half of the record. It is also brilliantly familiar with a hulking riff holding the whole thing together.  ‘I’ve been working on a cocktail called Grounds For Divorce,’ spouts Garvey in his darkest tones before he goes on to lament the current state of (presumably) Manchester. ‘There’s a hole in my neighbourhood, down which of late I can’t help but fall.’ It is the obvious choice for lead single, and is a key component of a work that demands to be listened to as a whole. Thankfully the sequencing is spot on – meaning the record meanders by in an enjoyably lazy manner rather than trudging along painfully.

Richard Hawley’s velvet tones grace The Fix, a mildly cynical tale concerning a betting swindle. The two Northerners' vocal trade-off is perfect for what is a brooding and atmospheric piece. It precedes the stark Some Riot, which Potter stamps his authority all over, the two songs having an accumulatively unnerving effect.

The coup de grace arrives at the record's death however. The gloriously ambitious On A Day Like This is huge. Dominated by sweeping strings and a marvellous choir it surges and soars, is allowed to run its course and cannot help but leave you with a smile on your face. It is one of the best things the band have done. Then, album closer Friend Of Ours couldn't really be more of a contrast. A poignant tribute to fellow Mancunian musician Bryan Glancy, there are strings but this time sparse and bleak and it's soulfully affecting. 'Never very good at good bye's, so gentle shoulder charge, love you mate, love you mate.' A sincerity that is without question, and typical of the record as a whole.

This is a record of depth and variation and brimming with a quality that deserves to be heard by millions. It won't be, because Elbow have made it, but who cares? This is their fourth, and probably best record to date. Now what was that line about form being temporary and class being.....?! I'm sure Guy Garvey could fill me in.

Release date: 17/03/2008
Artist website: www.elbow.co.uk
Label: Fiction/Polydor

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