Album Review: elbow - 'Audio Vertigo'
elbow have returned with the release of their tenth studio album ‘Audio Vertigo’, it’s a twelve track album following up their previous 2021 album ‘Flying Dream 1’. This one is heftier, more direct and more sonically varied then their previously released work.
The album was recorded throughout 2023 and marks a significant step change for the group and their musical direction compared to their 2021 album. Lyrically, ‘Audio Vertigo’, delivers a twisted and humorous rumination on why we love star crossed lovers so much and how we should celebrate it. Their warm and eclectic sound echoes through our earphones in the form of album opener ‘Things I’ve Been Telling Myself for Years’. Their refined and harmonious sound is a warm and unpredictable one, making it an exciting musical journey listening to the LP. Singer Guy Garvey’s remarkable voice is dressed by strong riffing guitar lines and warm bass-driven compositions.
‘Lovers Leap’ was released as a single ahead of the album, and sounds restless yet innovative and brings many different colours to the band’s musical colour palette. Grand and confident, and in Garvey’s words “not to reflect but distract from the bad things happening in the world. We found seedy, gnarly grooves playing in back rooms and those pulled some dark memories and plenty of humour from me.” They truly unpack, come in with guns blazing, on ‘Balu’, which instantly makes the song a favourite for us on the album. The track builds on a powerful and horn-heavy soundscape that is funky yet somehow still rock’n’roll-infused.
A dark and tender sound enters the mix on ‘Very Heaven’, with the beautifully soft and pensive timbre of Guy’s voice taking centre stage. We adore this ballad-like sound seamlessly flowing into another more keys heavy single in ‘Her To The Earth’. This very eccentric soundscape brings in different sounds and influences and adds a stomping rhythm nearly making it a mantra-like sound before turning back onto the road of alternative rock. Most anthemic on the album is ‘The Picture’ which leans on a fanatic rhythm and spoken vocals, giving the album another layer of musical creativity. We return to a darker and slower sound on ‘Poker Face’, a welcome and introspective break on this exciting collection of songs, yet they don’t stand still for too long as the song is barely two minutes long and quickly moves into ‘Knife Fight’ which is another warm release not so much built on fast drum rolls, but instead dominated by refined and rich guitar lines.
It seems we have lost some energy when also ‘Embers of Day’ is less hurried and more laid back, but it ends up solely being the break before they thunder into ‘Good Blood Mexico City’ which hints most at an alternative pop sound. The album seems to have been divided into several chapters with short intervals to bring them all together. The band show confidence, and how they are on the front foot with the release of ‘Audio Vertigo’, and are more relevant now than ever. We needed the poetic lyrics Garvey has come up with this time around, lyrics that talk about star crossed lovers, admonishes, and forgives his self-delusion, puzzles the nature of loss in a digital age, and narrates a real-life knife fight, all the while finding friends, real and imagines, and experiences, genuine and mythical, along the way.
‘From The River’ is the warm and carefully energetic closer of an album showing a band’s infinite talent to reinvent themselves and to never adhere to the expectations that they will do what they have done before. ‘Audio Vertigo’ is a surprising musical journey from its first tones, until its very last ones and will be listened to on repeat plenty of times.
Words by Laura Rosierse
