The Enemy Chorus - The Earlies Album Review

The Earlies

Album Review

The distinctive vibe of The Earlies certainly pumps through the veins of their second album, 'The Enemy Chorus', but it does take some getting used to.

Those already familiar with the band will know they require an acquired pallet of musical taste but if you have it, there is so much to gain and appreciate from listening to this wonderfully crafted production.

It's the kind of music which explores new boundaries and you just sense they have limitless room for creativity and complexity.

But this is not to say The Enemy Chorus is necessarily an enjoyable piece of music as many would find it either a struggle to sit down and concentrate on or just plain irritating.

Which is a shame really because despite the fact it can all come across as a pretentious experiment, it's clear much thought and effort has gone into creating these original and textured sounds.

In No Love in Your Hearts they mix a peaceful violin solo with electric sounding vibes all topped off with Beach Boys-esq vocals, albeit slightly darker.

Like so many tracks on the album, it sounds rather random and unusual track, but in a strange way it's rather refreshing.

It's a similar story with the next few tracks until you get to this bizarre one called Gone For The Most Part, which is kind of an orchestral mishmash that would be more suited to the Proms.

Perhaps the most gentle and melodic song is Little Trooper, which is genuinely relaxing and thought provoking at the same time, while the soothing strumming of Broken Chain is also up their with their best.

Finally the album is finished off with Breaking Point which, unsurprisingly given their ability to play with your mind, makes you feel like you're swimming with whales and dolphins.

Maybe it's rather a paradox that as much variety The Earlies has in their repertoire, you're probably going to enjoy it as much as you possibly could by either concentrating on it hard or simply letting it subliminally hypnotise you as background music.

Christopher Hammer