Post by Sean on Dec 13, 2009 21:09:25 GMT
9/10
For a band that gave us summer singalong, '5 Years Time', I don't think anyone expected a second album to register any significance. After the first album became a mini hit from it's light hearted folk pop, lead singer Charlie Fink went away and got his heart broken. And it's from that experience that Fink and his band carve out a modern day conceptual masterpiece. After his relationship with Laura Marling crumbled, he set about writing the sophomore album with a broken heart. As reflected on the six minute opening title track, he reflects on new starts and still craving for his past he manages to release all his heartbreak into a slow building song that explodes into an instrumental bettered by few. The next three songs all delve into his relationship and the post relationship feeling we've all somehow experienced, which makes it a very intimate record. It's a record you can relate to it more ways than one, and while it isn't a very upbeat album, it nevertheless stays intriguing throughout. With two instrumentals either side of a chorus led more upbeat track, you move onto 'Stranger'. A track so personal you wonder if it is an insert of Fink's personal diary. This is followed by the standout song, piano led 'Blue Skies'. He here reaches out to his listeners by telling us, 'this is a song for anyone with a broken heart', and reminds us that 'blue skies are coming'. Even if you aren't suffering some kind of emotional hardship, this song makes you feel grateful for all you have and is quite frankly inspiring. Rounding off the album are two slow tracks once more, but both remind you off the heartbreak that Fink did suffer, and makes you appreciate the intensity of this album. Only then do you realize that it is something special. The last thing you'd expect from the creators of '5 Years Time', this album shows what love can do to you.
For a band that gave us summer singalong, '5 Years Time', I don't think anyone expected a second album to register any significance. After the first album became a mini hit from it's light hearted folk pop, lead singer Charlie Fink went away and got his heart broken. And it's from that experience that Fink and his band carve out a modern day conceptual masterpiece. After his relationship with Laura Marling crumbled, he set about writing the sophomore album with a broken heart. As reflected on the six minute opening title track, he reflects on new starts and still craving for his past he manages to release all his heartbreak into a slow building song that explodes into an instrumental bettered by few. The next three songs all delve into his relationship and the post relationship feeling we've all somehow experienced, which makes it a very intimate record. It's a record you can relate to it more ways than one, and while it isn't a very upbeat album, it nevertheless stays intriguing throughout. With two instrumentals either side of a chorus led more upbeat track, you move onto 'Stranger'. A track so personal you wonder if it is an insert of Fink's personal diary. This is followed by the standout song, piano led 'Blue Skies'. He here reaches out to his listeners by telling us, 'this is a song for anyone with a broken heart', and reminds us that 'blue skies are coming'. Even if you aren't suffering some kind of emotional hardship, this song makes you feel grateful for all you have and is quite frankly inspiring. Rounding off the album are two slow tracks once more, but both remind you off the heartbreak that Fink did suffer, and makes you appreciate the intensity of this album. Only then do you realize that it is something special. The last thing you'd expect from the creators of '5 Years Time', this album shows what love can do to you.
