Electrelane - No Shouts, No Calls

That voice! Where is it coming from? Like a ghost, it passes straight through me and speaks directly to my mind. Listening to Electrelane's new album can be quite a haunting experience, but this is exactly why I enjoy it so much. Their vocals aren't going to win them any prizes in talent shows, but something about them really hits the spot for me. This is strange because this female four piece from England were once largely instrumental. Apparently they were never happy with songs they sung on, so they tended to avoid them. Whatever it was they did to fix this, I'm glad they did it. That's not to say I don't enjoy their instrumental work. Traces of their past style is present here, however it plays more of a supportive role, which works quite well. The album starts of quite intense (the tracks below are the first two) and then tends to fade away a bit. Originally I thought it was going to be one of those albums with only a couple of strong songs to support it, however the rest have really come into their own and now I'd say it's actually quite a solid effort. I find myself turning to Electrelane's soothing sound more and more often when I turn my mp3 player on. When you consider the competition it has, that's quite an achievement.

To The East - My love for their vocals probably stemmed from my first experience with them. I had just gotten their album but hadn't had time to listen to it yet. As I was coming home at some unearthly hour that night, I was listening to the radio and this song came on. I was quite taken by the subtlety with which they sang and was eager to find out who it was. I had arrived home and was literally waiting for it to be back announced before I could go to bed. When I heard it was Electrelane, I got such a warm feeling knowing I would have that album to wake up to.

The Greater Times - Sorry, no romantic anecdotes for this one. Just a plain old mp3 and an introduction that serves no purpose other than to fill some space. Hope you enjoy!