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Album Details
- Artist: Guillemots
- Album: Red
- Label: Polydor
- Year of Release: 2008
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: dadair on 2008-03-10
RecommendNormally a 70s throw-backing, fleeting glam rock edged foray is as clichéd as Bruce Forsyth quip and lacks the necessary frivolity and loft these days. However, for the usually flighty, empirical and electro sliding pop protagonists, Guillemeots it represents a refreshing departure for them. Second album opener, ‘Kriss Kross’ builds up to its rock plateaux from a grandiose key kick and thoughtful lyrics are delivered through the quivering falsetto of Fyfe Dangerfield, matching the impact of Mika. An immediate tone switch sees funky R N’ B/pop sliding ‘Big Dog’, draw in the slightly screeching, high profile backing touch of Aristazabal Hawkes. Along with some thunderous percussion she helps to take the track off in different directions.
There has been many a comment as to how different the Guillemots live impact is compared to their debut album, ‘Through The Window Pane’. In their second full-length, Red, they do to a large extent, manage to replicate their live eccentricity. Whereby, the above-mentioned bold beginning is cushioned by the piercingly poetic ballad, ‘Falling Out Of Reach’. It possesses the most prominent acoustic element in the history of Guillemots. At times, they produce the feel you’d expect from Arcade Fire had they been told to hurry up in the studio. Pacing euphoria and a vast, broad electro based instrumental sound are the main ingredients to this spicy broth. Making you amazed to learn that four people alone creates this varied sound and impact. The Gary Numan sparring against David Bowie with commentary by Ladytron feel given off by ‘One Last Kiss’, underlines the step forward that this quartet has made.
The haunting harmonica led, ambient toe of ‘Words’, is pure reflection music. Dangerfield’s supple lingering vocals lead a cry out against over-speaking. Let’s just hope that Johnathan Ross listens to these views;
“I think that life would be so much easier behind no words.”
In true contrast, they follow this with a word-perfect, melodious stroll ‘Standing On The Last Star’, again using the pull of the lead man’s falsetto. Guillemots are about to bolster even further their reputation as a moving, slightly eccentric and expansive four piece.
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on 2011-11-19 CharlesMartel Said:
For a band which promised so much upon the release of their debut, the Guillemots have sure fallen a long way from the standard they set themselves. That debut, " Through the Windowpane ", was something refreshing at a time when there was a serious danger of sterility developing among musical forms of the time. Its sheer breadth and scope; the euphoric and uplifting songs; the giant sounds; and the soaring vocals made that album stand out. Had we, I wondered, finally discovered a truly worthy successor to the Waterboys of the days of the Big Music?
Imagine then my disappointment on hearing "Red" . I had expected so much from this album and found myself sorely let down. This is what the Guillemots of their first album would have sounded like if they had gone through the X-Factor. This a band who have been processed into an acceptable form for the mainstream, packaged up as a marketing tool, and then unleashed on the charts, hoping to take them by storm. In so doing, whoever was responsible for this has stripped out of the band all the life, the originality and the joy which made " Through the Windowpane" such a fine album. If ever there was evidence needed in submission for a contention that the mainstream is utterly incompatible with creativity and originality in music, then listening to "Red" after listening to " Through the Windowpane " would be all that were needed.
The music is perfectly performed and executed to a degree which is beyond complaint. But that is just it. As the White Lies have shown, it is possible to produce out everything that makes an album vital and engaging. And the Guillemots have managed to do just that. The traits that made "Through the Windowpane " such a joy to listen to are still there, it is just that they have been converted into parodies of themselves by the sterility of the production. The Arabic or Indian influenced "Kriss Kross " has turned into something that could have been recorded by Take That. Slower numbers, especially " Falling out of Reach" have that incipient sappiness about them which would make them ideal radio fodder for bands like Blue.
Quite why the band would allow this to happen is beyond me. Surely they must be able to detect the change which has come about and, given that, must have lamented the passing of what was. Quite possibly, Fyfe Dangerfield's further foray into the mainstream with his solo work after the release of this album indicated that he had other things on his mind when he recorded "Red" . But no matter, "Red" must rate as one of the most disappointing second albums of all time and one which gives me little cause for optimism for the future direction of the Guillemots.
Rating: 2/10
