[A.K.A. Thoughts on an Album (On A Website, September 2010)]

Words: Gareth O’Malley

I had been thinking about what Broken Records were going to do after the re-emergence of Arcade Fire earlier this year. Being a pale imitation of a band who have returned and are now bigger than ever before just wouldn’t cut it for the all-important second album. It was quite alright to try and fill their shoes whilst ‘The Suburbs’ was being worked on (they and so many other pretenders to the throne made their best efforts).

Don’t get me wrong: while ‘Until The Earth Begins To Part’ was quite good on initial listens, its impact has paled since it saw the light of day last June, and I knew that a case of the same again for LP2 would not be well-received. Especially so as the Canadians’ third album has since blown away the competition. However, I am pleased to report that the Scottish group have chosen not to go down this route in any way, shape or form.

‘Let Me Come Home’ (released October 25th on 4AD) is a rawer-sounding record than its predecessor. The over-the-top and sometimes needlessly busy production has been scaled back considerably. Each instrument has plenty of room to breathe, and the listener is aware of exactly what’s going on at all times, not pounded into submission by the walls of sound that characterised such songs as ‘A Good Reason’ and ‘If Eilert Loevborg Wrote A Song, It Would Sound Like This’.

The lyrical content has also shifted focus and darkened in tone. ‘Fears and concerns over making relationships work, and the need for security’, in Jamie Sutherland’s words, are the focal point of the record. The security of the home is discarded in opener ‘A Leaving Song’, and the security of marriage is something that’s longed for in the (revlatively) sparse ‘I Used To Dream’.

Quality-wise, there is no single song here that is head and shoulders above the rest, but that works to the band’s considerable advantage. No song stands out as considerably weaker than its companions either. ‘Let Me Come Home’ is quite subdued and subtle - there are two obvious choices for singles: ‘A Darkness Rises Up’ (lead single, natch) and ‘You Know You’re Not Dead’, and that’s about it - but I’m three listens in and it’s starting to reveal itself as one of the better second albums I’ve heard this year.

Grab a free download of ‘A Leaving Song’;