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Review
Guillemots’ slow-burning debut, Through the Windowpane, embraced so many influences from rock, folk, pop and jazz that it was hard to properly position the band. Despite this magpie approach they were nominated for 2006’s Mercury Prize, and 2008’s Red reached the UK top 10. The band paused while singer Fyfe Dangerfield released a solo album, Fly Yellow Moon, in 2010. For a man pursuing the quirky, its acoustic love songs were surprisingly conventional, though no weaker for it. And now, with recent discs from contemporaries Mystery Jets and Noah and the Whale aiming at the big time, a slick overhaul can be expected on Guillemots’ third set.
And it starts well: imagine if Brandon Flowers elected to record another solo effort in Worcestershire and you’re getting close to the vibe of the opener here. Guillemots sound tighter than on previous albums, demonstrating restraint in delving into their cluttered music box. The title-track is a lush, romantic epic, shooting down its greater themes of being "like a hunted animal" with the wry question, "did someone mention the weather?"
This new ambition continues with Vermillion, which builds into a hugely hummable crescendo of which The Waterboys would be proud. Dangerfield is in triumphant voice, delivering a performance to send "rock music is dead" doom-mongers scurrying for cover, even on the weakest songs. The debonair I Don’t Feel Amazing Now embraces kettledrums, insecurity and a tight tune, but then they shoot themselves in the foot.
Their jumble-sale jamming finds the four forgetting how to write a song, sometimes halfway through one. The fuzzy Slow Train just about stays on track, saved by its harmonies, but Sometimes I Remember Wrong is a three-minute song regrettably stretched over nine. Inside pleads "take me for a drive", but loses its feet in a swirl of atmospherics. It’s typical of this record’s failure to fully engage with an audience, despite several adventurous attempts.
Eventually, their self-indulgence completely loses the listener. No matter how hard one might try to love this album – and one can try very hard – there’s only disappoint at what could have been. Guillemots can do better, and inevitably will again; but Walk the River is a missed opportunity to truly hit the big time, if that’s what they wanted.
--Tom Hocknell
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Download
The Guardian says it all:
Singer Fyfe Dangerfield calls Guillemots' third album "music to be heard across the night sky", which captures precisely its expansive beauty. Having got a yen for sparser songs out of his system with last year's solo album, he's returned with a zeal for large-scale emotion, and Walk the River is laden with it. It abounds in dramatic word-pictures, possibly pertaining to the end of the romance with the woman who inspired his solo LP ("Walk the river like a hunted animal", "When I see it I hear crashing drums") and sky-high choruses, arranged into some of the most sumptuous songs Guillemots have ever created. This is a group who don't believe in understatement, so there's a lot going on, from the fuzzy guitar and spacey synth squeaks that take The Basket in a psychedelic direction to Tiger's girl-group harmonies, but none of it feels superfluous - every sound here contributes to a big, beautiful whole.
And, by way of a postscript, here's a review from the Brighton Great Escape Festival: "Back in Komedia, Guillemots are reminding a packed audience why they're still one of the most underrated bands of the past decade. Mixing material from the still excellent 'Through The Windowpane' with this year's 'Walk The River', Fyfe Dangerfield and his three trusted accomplices resonate class, as does an impeccable 'Trains To Brazil'."
Singer Fyfe Dangerfield calls Guillemots' third album "music to be heard across the night sky", which captures precisely its expansive beauty. Having got a yen for sparser songs out of his system with last year's solo album, he's returned with a zeal for large-scale emotion, and Walk the River is laden with it. It abounds in dramatic word-pictures, possibly pertaining to the end of the romance with the woman who inspired his solo LP ("Walk the river like a hunted animal", "When I see it I hear crashing drums") and sky-high choruses, arranged into some of the most sumptuous songs Guillemots have ever created. This is a group who don't believe in understatement, so there's a lot going on, from the fuzzy guitar and spacey synth squeaks that take The Basket in a psychedelic direction to Tiger's girl-group harmonies, but none of it feels superfluous - every sound here contributes to a big, beautiful whole.
And, by way of a postscript, here's a review from the Brighton Great Escape Festival: "Back in Komedia, Guillemots are reminding a packed audience why they're still one of the most underrated bands of the past decade. Mixing material from the still excellent 'Through The Windowpane' with this year's 'Walk The River', Fyfe Dangerfield and his three trusted accomplices resonate class, as does an impeccable 'Trains To Brazil'."
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This review is from a proper full on fan - just thought should say that from the off. And I've never written a review before- i'm not very good so please forgive me!
The album starts with attention grabbing gently pounding beats, building into more adding bits along the way, twinkles, syncopation, ethereal embellishments and what could be baroque style harpsichords.
Some songs, like Vermillion and Walk the River, are very easy to 'get' at first listen, they pull you in, the chorus grabs you and you'll find yourself humming them long after you've heard them. But there's a lot more to them than that. Listen again and again (with headphones) and you'll hear layers and layers that you just can't take in on first listen.
You'll go from heart ache with ' I don't feel amazing now' to a buoyant, vigorous and buzzing 'Ice Room' with its twinkling ice cream van sounds.
Tigers is beautiful. (Quite depressing, but up-tempo and beautiful).
Inside is beautiful. Opening with sounds similar to a child musical jewellery box it's a dreamy song that glides effortlessly along to conclusion shimmering and pleading with you on the way.
Some further highlights are:
Sometimes I remember wrong. This is my out and out favourite song on the album. It's heart-achingly epic. At 9 mins 16 it doesn't feel it at all. It sweeps you up in its massive swell, soars up high, you ride along in the clouds, floating away with pangs of heart ache and desperation. It takes you briefly to a dark and sinister helter-skelter whirlwind before lifting you back up again skyward with hope, to fade.
Dancing in the Devil's shoes.
My top tip here is not to listen to 'Sometimes I remember wrong' then 'Dancing in the Devil's Shoes' immediately after. If you're not in tears or close to it after Sometimes I remember wrong then you almost definitely should be after hearing them together. Dancing in the Devil's shoes is another exceptionally well crafted song and masterpiece.
There is nothing on this album that shouldn't be there: those I've not mentioned have been omitted to save the reader from seeing how long this is and not bothering!
If you loved or liked Through the Window Pane and liked Red then you should definitely not be disappointed with this third album. Through the Window Pane was my favourite album of the last decade so my hope was high that Walk the River would deliver and gain similar regard. I didn't think it would be possible to gain the fondness it has so quickly but it has. Yes, it's darker, a good bit darker, it's manic, melancholy, heart wrenching, buzzing, uplifting, glorious, soaring, twinkling, stomping, punchy and beautiful.
If you want that in your ears- buy it!
The album starts with attention grabbing gently pounding beats, building into more adding bits along the way, twinkles, syncopation, ethereal embellishments and what could be baroque style harpsichords.
Some songs, like Vermillion and Walk the River, are very easy to 'get' at first listen, they pull you in, the chorus grabs you and you'll find yourself humming them long after you've heard them. But there's a lot more to them than that. Listen again and again (with headphones) and you'll hear layers and layers that you just can't take in on first listen.
You'll go from heart ache with ' I don't feel amazing now' to a buoyant, vigorous and buzzing 'Ice Room' with its twinkling ice cream van sounds.
Tigers is beautiful. (Quite depressing, but up-tempo and beautiful).
Inside is beautiful. Opening with sounds similar to a child musical jewellery box it's a dreamy song that glides effortlessly along to conclusion shimmering and pleading with you on the way.
Some further highlights are:
Sometimes I remember wrong. This is my out and out favourite song on the album. It's heart-achingly epic. At 9 mins 16 it doesn't feel it at all. It sweeps you up in its massive swell, soars up high, you ride along in the clouds, floating away with pangs of heart ache and desperation. It takes you briefly to a dark and sinister helter-skelter whirlwind before lifting you back up again skyward with hope, to fade.
Dancing in the Devil's shoes.
My top tip here is not to listen to 'Sometimes I remember wrong' then 'Dancing in the Devil's Shoes' immediately after. If you're not in tears or close to it after Sometimes I remember wrong then you almost definitely should be after hearing them together. Dancing in the Devil's shoes is another exceptionally well crafted song and masterpiece.
There is nothing on this album that shouldn't be there: those I've not mentioned have been omitted to save the reader from seeing how long this is and not bothering!
If you loved or liked Through the Window Pane and liked Red then you should definitely not be disappointed with this third album. Through the Window Pane was my favourite album of the last decade so my hope was high that Walk the River would deliver and gain similar regard. I didn't think it would be possible to gain the fondness it has so quickly but it has. Yes, it's darker, a good bit darker, it's manic, melancholy, heart wrenching, buzzing, uplifting, glorious, soaring, twinkling, stomping, punchy and beautiful.
If you want that in your ears- buy it!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Despite Tom Hocknell's review for the BBC,this really is a grower,I would seriously pass that review by and suck it and see for yourself.
Remember the meandering instrumentations of 'Through The Windowpane',those epic 7-minute wonders that had us all enthralled? It was that debut album which we took to our hearts,fell in love with and still cherish to this day? 'Walk The River' combines all of those eccentricities and throws in more of the same big,bold choruses,ethereal strings and other such 'stuff' of wonder which enveloped and also managed to 'create' which was essentially the essence of their debut.Original,haunting,melodic,pounding,mysterious and whole-heartedly warming.
With each listen this album gets better and better and better,believe me!
I love their debut,admired the follow-up album, 'Red', for being what it was,a much more straight forward 'rockin' album with great songs,but for me,'Walk The River' brings them back around to that sumptuous,expansive and cerebrally affecting sound which for me IS the Guillemots.
Making the strange both melodic and beautiful...nobody does it better.(Well maybe Kate Bush,and that is certainly no bad thing.)
Blindingly brilliant album!
Remember the meandering instrumentations of 'Through The Windowpane',those epic 7-minute wonders that had us all enthralled? It was that debut album which we took to our hearts,fell in love with and still cherish to this day? 'Walk The River' combines all of those eccentricities and throws in more of the same big,bold choruses,ethereal strings and other such 'stuff' of wonder which enveloped and also managed to 'create' which was essentially the essence of their debut.Original,haunting,melodic,pounding,mysterious and whole-heartedly warming.
With each listen this album gets better and better and better,believe me!
I love their debut,admired the follow-up album, 'Red', for being what it was,a much more straight forward 'rockin' album with great songs,but for me,'Walk The River' brings them back around to that sumptuous,expansive and cerebrally affecting sound which for me IS the Guillemots.
Making the strange both melodic and beautiful...nobody does it better.(Well maybe Kate Bush,and that is certainly no bad thing.)
Blindingly brilliant album!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
This album has taken over my life!
I bought Trains To Brazil when it was made single of the week on xfm in 2006 and thought it was brilliant but I never really got in to the debut album. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. P. Baker
Close, but no cigar...
High expectations on the back of "Through the Windowpane". Lyrically repetitive, confused production take the edge off what could have been a better album. Read more
Published 9 months ago by the captain
A grower
Definately a grower. At first I thought 'not as good as through the windowpane' which I consider a brilliant cd, but I'm now thinking it'll be played just as often in my player!
Published 12 months ago by Treedd
Grand, as usual
I've always been impressed by whatever Fyfe Dangerfield and co. has been up to, be it with Guillemots or solo. This album is does not change that. Read more
Published 12 months ago by L. Kirkegaard
So close, yet so far
Every so often upon listening to this E.P, you catch glimpses, tantalisingly close sights of the sheer brilliance that 'Through the Window Payne', The Guillemots' first full length... Read more
Published 12 months ago by SamEzra
Love at first listen
I first heard this album over the my back garden fence as next door was playing it one morning. Ashamed to say that I'd never listened to the Guillemots before but even at a... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Judge P
Great album but download problems - beware
This is the best the 'mots have done for ages but I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone that.
The main reason for this review is because this is the first album I've had... Read more
The main reason for this review is because this is the first album I've had... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Peter R
Not a patch on Through The Windowpane
Through the Windowpane was one of the most amazing albums of all time. This is, however, and IMHO, just one notch above average (given what the band are capable of). Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mark B
Better than Red, thankfully
Let me start by saying that 5-star albums are very rare. Through The Windowpane was a 5-star album for all the reasons that have been said before. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Team McLaren
Yesterday Is Not Dead
The good news is that this is a whole lot better than the previous effort, `Red', which came on the back of `Through the Windowpane', possibly one of the best debut albums of the... Read more
Published 13 months ago by themightydougster
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