Amazon.co.uk Review
Twickenham’s Noah And The Whale name themselves in honour of director Noah Baumbach’s 2005 feature The Squid And The Whale, which feels strangely appropriate: post
Juno, no indie flick would quite feel complete without a soundtrack like Peaceful The World Lays Me Down--sensitive, homespun indie-folk that blends the tremulous intimacy of Jeffrey Lewis and Adam Green with an occasional grand breadth reminiscent of the Arcade Fire or some other such act with symphonic tendencies and big ideas. Vocalist Charlie Fink is your emotional guide, his quavering, expectant voice the perfect vehicle to the likes of “5 Atoms In A Molecule” and “Shape Of My Heart”, songs of romantic longing (and in time-honoured indie-flick style, this geek always gets his girl). The girl in question, incidentally, is
Laura Marling, the young folk songstress who made her debut with Noah And The Whale before moving on to solo success: her voice is more conventionally strong than Fink’s, adding emotional lift at crucial moments, but even as Fink’s voice wavers, his words swell with resolve. As he sings on the gorgeous “Give A Little Love”, “Life is fleeting/But I love you”.--
Louis Pattison