Highlights: Let Them All In, Hold Back The Night, Mouth On Me,
Some Better Day
Let’s keep it all short
and sweet. Since that is basically the only way of dealing with Let It All In anyway (and I Am Kloot in
general, for that matter). The band’s previous album, Sky At Night, was distinguished by the fact that it was shortlisted
for the Mercury Prize (no big deal, but still a pleasant surprise for an album
so unassuming and understated). Musically, Let
It All In offers more of the same: gentle, melodic folk-pop.
As ever, not much
variety to be found, but there are lots of tasteful, lovely arrangement details
(like the delicious orchestration in “Hold Back The Night”, for instance)
that will make it a thoroughly engaging listen. The melodies are not what you
would call particularly hard-hitting (though “Mouth On Me” is actually an
instantly memorable pop gem), but you will never stop snagging off all those inconspicuous
hooks and ideas.
Interestingly, I’ve only
just noticed how similar I Am Kloot sounds to The Apartments, that long
forgotten Australian classic chamber pop band. You certainly hear that in the
vocals as well as the actual music: I could very well imagine stuff like the
folksy “Shoeless” or the Beatlesque “Some Better Day” on 1995’s A Life Full Of Farewells (granted
– Let It All In is somewhat more
upbeat, though that's not saying much).
In the end, this is I Am
Kloot being I Am Kloot. And when the tunes are there (and they mostly are),
there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. That’s a low eight.
8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment