Guy Garvey lead singer of Elbow Photo: Johanna Bocher
Three years have passed since they released the brilliant Build a Rocket Boys, and now Elbow are back with their latest masterpiece and sixth album The Take Off and Landing of Everything.
It was arguably the Bury boys’ fourth record, The Seldom Seen Kid, which catapulted the five-piece firmly into the national psyche.The Seldom Seen Kid’s flagship track, One Day Like This, was and still is inescapable, seemingly providing the backdrop to every advert and sporting montage shown on television.
The Take Off and Landing of Everything is more reminiscent of early efforts Cast of Thousands and Leaders of the Free World, and is a reminder of why the band are so popular with their fans.
They may be critically acclaimed, and they may sell out big arenas in the same way Rihanna or Beyonce would, but really Elbow are just Northern dreamers, singing about girls from Rochdale and going home to your mam’s for tea.
Recently Guy Garvey has spent much of his time in New York, and the excellent New York Morning is a love letter to his new city.
Yet while he’s swapped Manchester for Manhattan, the roots of The Take Off and Landing of Everything clearly come from home.
