Another week, another well established frontman goes solo with an stripped back, acoustic folk debut, this time being Feeder's Grant Nicholas, with an album that I was half tempted to copypasta my review of Charlie Simpson's album and see if anyone noticed.
The key difference between this and that album is Yorktown Heights is far, far too long. Nicholas' songs are pretty much the same with very slight variations between them, although overall their indistinguishable. If, like me, you stupidly invested in the deluxe version of the album, it runs just shy of an hour and it's not so much a journey as instead; a slow, methodical trudge through generic acoustic ballads.
It starts off slow and basic with lead single Soul Mates, it briefly perks up with Robots (which sounds like an unfinished leftover from Generation Freakshow), it then slows right back down after Vampires comes and goes with little fanfare and continues trudging at it's own pace with little care and little to show for.
There's very little to like other than if you were a fan of Feeder's previous attempt at meloncholy, acoustic pop-rock with Pushing the Senses but thought the album should be a lot longer and include a lot less instrumentation and far weaker lyrics. But even then, you'd probably be better investing in Noah and the Whale, Christopher Owens or Xenu-help-me; Mumford & Sons.
A dull, boring affair that makes one crave for Feeder to return from their hiatus.
3/10
H
@Retcon_Nation
Sorry mate, but I'm afraid you're in a minority.
ReplyDeleteHaving listened to the album over and over again, I think it's brilliant album. Soul Mates is a lovely opener, Hitori perks up the album a little, before Tall Trees slows it down again. Robots is a lively, exciting track that sounds very finished to me. Vampires is one of my highlights. I will admit, Good Fortune Lies Ahead is a bit of a lull but luckily it's a short song so it's not long before Joan of Arc, another highlight, comes in. Time Stood Still is a brilliant, anthemic track and probably the most Feeder-esque on the album. There's not much else to say other than the rest of the tracks are very good.
It took me a few listens; the album grows on you. If you give it time, I'm sure it will grow on you too.