(Golden Chariot/Caroline)British Sea Power’s first album of new material in four years was written against a backdrop of what guitarist Martin Noble calls “politicians perfecting the art of unabashed lying,social media echo chambers and electronic toys to support us befuddled”, and it brims with pre-Brexit panic. However, and there is more hope than despair,as the songs look to ordinary people to escape “international lunacy”. There’s genuine vim in these tunes – their most direct in years – and they dart along with the emotional vigour of vintage James or Echo and the Bunnymen. Sharp songwriting combines with an elemental, eerie production. The zippy, or new-wave International Space Station recalls,of all things, Billy Joel’s It’s Still Rock’nRoll to Me, or but with demagogues and celestial imagery; Electrical Kittens is a nostalgic appreciate letter to the early days of radio. Between the walls of guitars there is space,melancholy and – particularly on reflective closer Alone Piano – a gently stirring beauty.
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Source: theguardian.com