Idlewild
Everything Ever Written (PledgeMusic)
Two stars
It’s been an eventful journey for the Scottish quintet Idlewild.
Six years on from their last missive Post Electric Blues, they return to complete a total metamorphosis from the outfit that emerged yelping from their homeland's fertile indie-rock scene almost two decades ago. Then, they were a feedback-flecked, punkish proposition. Now, they are a folk-brushed, bookish band with hints of latter-day REM.
The blues-rock-riffing intro of the opener Collect Yourself evokes the spirit of Led Zeppelin, promising much. But that's about as exciting as things get. There are beautifully crafted moments — such as the perky college rock of Radium Girl and On Another Planet — but with only occasional jumps in pace, this is largely the difference between growing up and growing old. So Many Things to Decide even resembles regretful deathbed meanderings, rather than the musings of a man in his late 30s, with their frontman Roddy Woomble pondering: "Do you ever get the feeling that I made important decisions far too late in life?"
Nowadays, sadly, Idlewild are about as visceral as the nice woolly jumpers that Woomble sometimes sports.
aworkman@thenational.ae
