Elbow – In session from BBC Maida Vale Studios – Shaun Keaveny Program – October 10, 2019 – BBC 6 Music –
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Elbow in session tonight, recorded earlier today at the BBC’s fabled Maida Vale studios to celebrate the release of their 8th studio album, Giants Of All Sizes, which is hitting the stores tomorrow (October 11th). This is a sneak preview of what’s in store. And, true to Elbow fashion, these tracks from the new album are astonishing and represent some of their best work to date.
There’s no question in anyone’s mind that we’re right in the middle of trying and uncertain times – and with that comes a burst of creative energy usually not seen when things are in a state of peace and relative calm. Elbow, and the matchless lyrics of lead singer Guy Garvey are perfect for the times. Moody, introspective, uncertain, fatalistic, dark, ironic – and possessing a glimmer of hopeful. This is stellar song writing that lays out the conditions of our current state of affairs on no uncertain terms. As a companion piece, the video for Empires is unforgettable. If there was one piece of music that sums up the anger and frustration in the world, this is it.
I had the feeling that, when this current state of affairs was unfolding, the only positive thing to come out of it would be the burst of creative anger and protest and the sheer eloquence of its message to be unveiled and to echo the times. Guy Garvey and the members of Elbow haven’t let us down – they have come through with flying colors and if the dystopia that unfolds in the course of Empires is disturbing, it offers further proof that Music truly is the glue holding us all together.
I think we can rest a bit easier in the knowledge that complacency hasn’t won anything. And if the rest of Giants Of All Sizes is like this sample via the session, the promise that Music has the power to invoke, provoke and evoke – we’re just getting started.
Play loud. And a nod of gratitude to Guy Garvey and cohorts for laying it all out and setting it all up.
