Guillemots Walk the River Review
GUILLEMOTS: WALK THE RIVER REVIEW
Guillemots made their claim to fame with the Mercury nominated ‘Through the Windowpane’ in 2006, fusing a wide range of genres, resulting in bric-a-brac sentiment and cinematic orchestral overtones. Follow up album ‘Red’ had similar characteristics of unusual piecing together of various sound, ultimately more pop heavy and 80’s influenced. Different as it was, it fell short of the critical acclaim its predecessor received. Following Fyfe Dangerfield’s acoustic ballad strums in solo album ‘Fly Yellow Moon’, new album ‘Walk the River’ is a test for Guillemots to return back to the form.
The album starts with a hypnotic drum rhythm akin to ‘There There’ by Radiohead, before sultry vocals, a Joy Division-esque bass line, and guitars soaked in reverb follow. A brilliant chorus pursues, with Fyfe howling ‘walk the river, like a hunted animal’. Contrasting melodies help build up vibrant texture, with synthesisers adding hints of psychadelia, all revolving around the addictive chorus. Following the triumphant opener is Vermillion, similar in characteristics. An acoustic guitar drives the song, with plenty of synthesisers and reverb soaked sliding guitars contributing to the shoe-gaze inspired ambience, acting as a backdrop for a large amount of the album. Whilst the orchestral heavy ‘I Don’t Feel Amazing Now’ is a lovely summery tune, the album falters somewhat from there on.
Guillemots start to lose their song writing ability, delivering too many mid-paced ballads that fail to deliver much enthusiasm. Ice Room falters with an average verse and chorus, just about surviving with its reliance on its sleazy guitar riff and soaring vocal line. Tiger comes next, not making the most of an epic hook where Fyfe screams ‘Love is anybody calling’. ‘Inside’ and ‘Slow Train’ are both forgettable, before the albums most baffling moment is revealed with ‘Something I Remember Wrong’ meandering on pointlessly for what feels like an eternity (it’s actually nine minutes), with little variation and impact. Sao Paolo it isn’t. The hand clap driven ‘I Must Be A Lover’ is the only song that salvages the middle of the album, with a catchy chorus and nice sing-a-long ending.
Luckily the last three tracks are a vast improvement. Leading single ‘The Basket’ has a synthesiser heavy introduction, followed by pulsating acoustic guitar and drum rhythms and a pure pop psychedelic chorus. What comes next is the albums strongest track ‘Dancing In The Devils Shoes’. Guillemots step away from the pop heavy formula, and deliver an achingly heartfelt moment that the hardest of spirits would find hard not to be moved by. Fyfe’s fragmented voice combined with a lo-fi guitar is gorgeously soothing. Think what ‘Little Bear’ was for Through the Window pane. Eight minute track ‘Yesterday Is Dead’ ends the album, with sonic textures and subtle additions throughout contributing to a slow dynamic build up. A nice solo continues the song before an odd ending that sounds like a horror film in a playground. Whilst it’s a decent song, at such a length it’s not spectacular enough.
The overall sound and production of the album is pleasing, its richness and attention to detail typical of Guillemots. In some ways it makes a perfect English summer album, with lush pop songs soaked in reverb, drizzled with dark psychedelic undertones. It is a shame the album falters in the middle. Had the song writing here been stronger we could have been talking about a great album. Whilst it is nice enough, Through The Windowpane still remains the album to better for Guillemots.
April 2010, Polydor Records
6.5/10