On the New Idlewild: God Bless Roddy Womble

On the new Idlewild:

Why this shit wasn't released earlier is beyond me. Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for the new Idlewild album, United Kingdom?!! DO YOU?!! Well, I've been making do with a burned copy. I still have a whole month to go until I can get my hands on a real copy. A real copy at a reasonable price, anyways. (But hey, what price is more reasonable than FREE?)

What really amused me was when I walked into my room one day after class and I heard my room mate, the poster child for Top 40 radio, blasting "You Held the World in Your Arms Tonight." I stopped dead in my tracks and asked her what she was playing. She said, "Oh it's this band called Idlewild," and I was like, "Yeah, I know, Idlewild," and pulled the 100 Broken Windows album from my shelf. She seemed disappointed, as if I'd stolen away something that was hers. Well you know what? Idlewild is mine, bitch! And they have been since July 2000! Track by track rundown:

You Held the World in Your Arms Tonight - I'm not such a big fan of this song only because I have to hear her play it like every 5 tracks or so on her playlist. And it's the mp3 recorded from the Steve Lamacq show, so I have to hear his voice introducing it every single time. But it's a good song, even if the organ-sounding synthesizer hook in the beginning bothers me.

A Modern Way of Letting Go - Oh yeah. Idlewild also rocks a little harder than on the last album. It's almost like Hope is Important.

American English - This song is a little more reminiscent of the last album, just because of the higher singing on it, and the sweet watery guitar. Nice acoustic guitar in the background as well. I totally hear what other people are talking about when they say Roddy's becoming more and more like Michael Stipes everyday.

I Never Wanted - A nice retro sounding track. For some reason, I'm reminded of "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" by Lenny Kravitz during the first few seconds before Roddy kicks in with the singing. This is probably my favorite song on the labum. I tend to go more for the "pretty" songs. Plus, I really like that guitar hook.

Article Author: Vivian St.George

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