Cast of Thousands

From the first bar, Cast of Thousands is enthralling. "Ribcage", an exquisite rousing treasure, builds on a languorous and fragmented melody into a cohesive climax while Garvey listlessly intones (with a flat mic taped to his larynx) the charming mantra, "When the sunshine/ throwing me a lifeline/ finds its way in to my room/ all I need is you". Meanwhile The London Community Gospel choir's spiralling harmonies echo Blur's "Tender" in its lo-fi, mellifluous majesty. But the majority of the album is far less grandiose with the haunting "Snooks (Progress Report)" and "I've Got Your Number" bristling with an unnerving intimacy and brooding dialogue. It's an enchanting return that finds Elbow stretching from despair to lovelorn tenderness. --Christopher Barrett

If you're still doubting, here's a few reasons:

'Fallen Angel' - insistent throbbing pop. Taught and tense and a great lost single.

'Not A Job' - More pulsating pop with a bruised heart.

'Fugitive Motel' - beautifully poised loneliness that somehow manages to lift the soul.

'I've Got Your Number' - never has verbal violence sounded so sweet, dissolving into one of the filthiest Hammond organ solos ever recorded.

'Switching off' - simply the most beautiful and poignant song written in the last 5 years.

'Buttons and Zips' - rude and funky goings on in the garden shed.

'Grace Under Pressure' - it takes off like a Harrier jump jet and then brings in the whole of the audience at Glastonbury to push it even further up!

Oh look, what more do you want, just buy the bloody thing!


More Power To Their Elbow   August 29, 2003
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

The rain it raineth every day. That's the title of a painting of Penzance promenade by Norman Garstin. But if Cornwall has a reputation for rain at inappropriate moments (e.g. in the middle of your Cornish clotted ice cream) Manchester has a reputation for rain at every moment of the day and night (including half way through your chips with curry sauce). Both these perceptions may be unfair but there you are. Still, the cloud-heavy skies have had an apparently beneficial effect on many of Manchester's finest in the past and Elbow (strictly speaking from Bury, but let's not get pedantic) join a roll call of greats like Joy Division and the Smiths who sound as if they've been influenced by the weather . "Cast of Thousands" builds on the smouldering splendour of "Asleep in the Back" with a more expansive feeling both lyrically and musically. 'Ribcage' offers a note of optimism amongst the angst-ridden lyrics and tightly coiled music. On 'Snooks' we're treated to a guitar assault worthy of Radiohead in their 'The Bends' period. And the feedback frenzy of 'I've Got Your Number' could have Neil Young calling his lawyers to advise on copyright issues. Or more likely getting up to join Elbow on stage. This time the band has let the lid blow off the pressure cooker and the sense of release is palpable. Fear not though: there are still plenty of the edgy atmospherics that made their debut album so seductive, for instance the unnervingly persistent rhythms of 'Buttons and Zips', complementing a measured but targeted attack on various people who have incurred Guy Garvey's disapproval of late. He's not the kind of person you want to fall out with, it seems. He's making more friends than enemies with this album. Towards the end, the sun breaks through with a swelling gospel chorus on 'Grace Under Pressure'. 'Cast of Thousands' has so much going for it that even sun-loving hedonists in the west country could soon be heading north to discover where Elbow get their power.