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...can't seem to get that lump out of my throat. Or stop listening to Weather to Fly... could be a connection there.
My god I love this.
Seen them live four times now and the last time a few weeks ago was the best. They've been together for 18 years so it wouldn't be surprising if they stop making albums, but I really hope they don't - each one just gets better.
This is my favourite album by my favourite band. So there.

Rating: 5 out of 5

I'm not sorry at all that these reviews begin to sound alike: if there was any hype about this band it would be fully deserved. But there is no hype; just the sound of a group of friends comfortable in their sound, displaying a dry wit, a bruised heart and an all enveloping tenderness that ill fits with a Manc guitar band. There's something for everyone in the deft production and range of styles on show - take this album into your family and cuddle up to it.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Sorry for the review title, it's a good job Elbow do better songs than I do titles!

In light of the other reviews, do you really need another verbose offering? No. But this album needs another 5 stars, because it's a wonderful, wistful, melancholic, optimistic & occasionally ballsy ride. Put it this way, I now have 4 great Elbow albums in my collection, instead of just the 3!

And if you get a chance to see them live, do, they will blow you away!

Rating: 5 out of 5

Elbow never cease to amaze me; they are on the few bands that get progressively (no pun intended) better with each release. This instalment is less ballsy than Leaders of the Free World, but almost infinitely more beautiful with it's lashings of sweeping strings, arranged beautifully by the ginger genius, Guy Garvey.

The running theme (it seems to me at least) is domestic disaster, which reaches something of a climax with "The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver" -- a song which should stir some sort of emotion in any human being.

Don't listen to anyone that gives this less than a four!

Rating: 5 out of 5

Alcoholism, loneliness, a band's early formation, and most importantly: the thrill and fear of love, whether it's just starting or in full bloom.

Those threads run through Elbow's fourth album, "The Seldom Seen Kid," turning it into a brooding, mildly melancholy little affair -- very unlike their last album, I think. And it's also a sign of how polished and mature this Manchester band's music has become over time, with delicate little indiepop tunes full of keyboard blues and solid lyrics.

It opens with a cacophony of weird vocals and clashing keyboard sounds, only to fade away into a gentle, bluesy little indiepop melody filled with volcanic highs.

There's a lot of trickling piano and trembling sweeps of keyboard. Guy Garvey's rough voice sings a bittersweet little song about how he dreams of "you and I/And marriage in an orange grove," and how the girl he adores should "find a man that's truer than/Find a man that needs you more than I." After describing how he feels, he adds faintly, "Darling, is this love?"

I'd say yes, probably.

In case there is any doubt, we're then treated to the stormy catchiness of "Bones of You" ("I can work till I break/but I love the bones of you/That, I will never escape") and the exquisite violin-riddled ballad "Mirrorball" ("You make the moon a mirrorball/The streets an empty stage/The city's sirens, violins/Everything has changed"). It's all love, whether it's fearful, joyous or painful.

After that trio, things get a wee bit darker with the blurry bluesy "Grounds for Divorce," and the string of songs that follow -- suspenseful pianopop, warm smooth Britpop tunes, droning laments about being alone, a rollicking sunny little indiepop melody, and the ghostly piano-led "Some Riot."

And in the middle of it, they tack in "The Fix," which is probably the weirdest material Elbow has ever turned out. It sounds a bit like a visit to a harmless-yet-creepy carnival populated by ghosts, with a swirling chorus that sounds like something Tim Burton would create. I have no idea what the lyrics mean though ("The fix is in/The jockey is cocky and vicious").

Listening to an Elbow album is a little like revisiting a friend you haven't spoken to in awhile, and hearing how things have changed for them. Quite a bit has changed for Elbow -- their music here is a bit more mellow, more domesticated in style, and more reliant on a bluesy vibe as well as the usual Britpop guitars and drums.

In fact, their lush music is also heavily imbued with shimmering, chilly synth and keyboards, giving it a slightly otherworldly air. But the core of the music is no less alluring -- solid riffs that can be satiny-smooth, ringing or fuzzed-out, solid drums, and a gentle piano that trickles through most of the album. And some of the sweeter songs are draped in some lovely violins.

It certainly doesn't hurt that the solid lyrics have moments of pure poetry ("The violets explode inside me/when I meet your eyes/Then I'm spinning and I'm diving/Like a cloud of starlings"). Garvey's voice sounds very rough-edged at first, until you hear just how much emotion he can cram into his vocals -- he drawls, wails and murmurs, sounding melancholy all the time.

"The Seldom Seen Kid" adds a bluesier, more ghostly edge to Elbow's lush Britpop, without changing what made them such a great band. Definitely one of this year's must-hears.

Rating: 4 out of 5