Of A Kindred Hue - Courting The Squall by Guy Garvey

I'm going to get the obvious out of the way quickly, ok? If Guy Garvey wants to make a solo album, so be it. But what will this mean for Elbow? Probably something, often nothing. Band-based musician makes solo record. World continues to turn...... We don't need to get all bent out of shape about the differences between this record and Elbow records. There's one writer, not five, and apart from Guy and the horn section, different musicians. That's about the size of it. (Vocally, its the same obviously - you can't expect the kind of tectonic shift you saw when Jason left Take That....). Spend too much time on comparatives and you're probably still standing at the bus stop waiting for the one that takes you to where the point is, but it's already gone, dropped the pensioners off at the bingo and heading there without you. At the same time, stating the contradistinctions between Courting The Squall and Elbow shouldn't have the Elbow-erati pointing sticks at me.

Due to the modus operandi being to make something more live and spontaneous with a prescribed time period of nine weeks to drive that along, there is a looseness in the rythmn, a more unguarded groove. "Elbow have a groove!" they cry (Oh yes, I can hear them....). I know they do. Saying something has one characteristic doesn't automatically infer you're saying something else doesn't. There are differences and similarities of both degree and kind but it is not - crucially - an issue of comparing quality, either of the music or the performer(s)/creator(s). Can we stop saying Elbow now? Great......

The record opens with Angela's Eyes, by now familiar and a perfect example of the immediacy and potency of the rythmns to be found elsewhere on the album. Thematically, the song revolves around the notion of faith. How faith, like truth and belief, doesn't belong to religion. Joy, truth and meaning are to be found in your relationships with and love for people, not in religion, superstition, or the society we are forced to be part of (the "house full of robbers and thieves").....hence why he is "looking for a perfect girl in a world of brazen lies". It might be a futile search but even committing to the search elevates you above that, means you will find something better than that which that world offers.

This theme of connection and the solace it provides weaves through the record; for example in the title track - "If big things, life things are waves at your door Come by, see me Come grab a sleep on my floor No more courting the squall" or in the line "With a memory of you In a cotton war bright dress you once wore / of a kindred hue" from Juggernaut. This imagery - which I am taking out of context of the line it resides within - is very much representative of a Garvey trope; scan a number of his lyrics and you will find him ruminating over, celebrating, searching for people, places and things in which he finds the familiar, finds a connection or a symmetry, or a common language . Or simply that which he loves. It's not exactly a narrative or over-arching concept but a more impressionistic sense - however there's also an uncertainty, a questioning in the record, a realisation perhaps of a gap between desire and reality, a less-than-sure-footedness.... "Do I have the wrong idea I'll be your fire escape If you can make the time To end this less than perfect year.... Can I hear your heart Can I hang my hat Can you risk your time on a whim like that Could you take my hand Could you leave your phone Could you let me lead you away from home Can I hear your heart Can I hang my hat Can you risk your time on a whim like that Can I see my years folding in to yours Can I see myself walking in your door" (Unwind) maybe it's just because these things are so important they're not to be taken for granted, and the doubt creates a kind of tension, an ongoing dialogue never fully completed. Negotiating that, knowing and accepting that this element of doubt can - perversely - be a fundamental aspect of what holds a relationship together rather than a divisive force. Maybe it's better to hope your relationships will last than just slavishly believe they will. Hope makes you work hard for something - belief makes you expect things to work and leaves you asking 'what if' when they don't.

Harder Edges is built on propulsive drums, with juiced up brasses taking the track to a boisterous conclusion; I wouldn't say matching the title, it's not abrasive but it also has this little bit in the stabby horn punctuations that reminds me of For The Love Of Money by The O'Jays. I'm gambling that's not intentional. Belly Of The Whale is of a similar bent - let's just say that reminds me of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings' version of What Have You Done For Me Lately? It doesn't really but I'm a stickler for continuity.

Lyrically it is, as ever, a masterclass. "in the hills it's an overcoat colder" from the title track is classic Garvey, finding the lyrical in the mundane, always verbally inventive, finding rhymes that in less adept hands/voice would clunk and grate. There are plenty of other examples such as "cursing the folly of a three dollar brolly" (Juggernaut) or

"Time to focus on the crocuses

Till I'm through it and I'm zen

And I'll do it again

I'm a diligent village idiot toeing the line but watching for a sign" (Yesterday).

The album closes with two seriously wonderful pieces of music. Broken Bottles And Chandeliers has a gentle acoustic opening and a muted, subdued vocal, but grows into something much grander and stately, and generally just bloody gorgeous. As with much of the slower material on the record when the pace drops there is never the danger of plodding or songs getting stuck under their own weight. The arrangements remain airy and light allowing Garvey's melodic touch to always be felt. Nowhere is this more evident than on the final track Three Bells - merely voice, atmospheric layers beneath, it just floats, it is effortless. Maybe that's as good a place to end as any - this album is effortlessly brilliant. Plus I've managed to get to the end without mentioning you know what anymore. Not that difficult really, as long as you know your arse from your..............bugger.....