London Grammar "If You Wait" (Deluxe Version)

 

I stumbled across this band in late September and really liked the music in this video (normally wouldn't embed something with 5.7 million views but it's the set up, OK?). 



Bought it the next day and slipped it into the queue since it wasn't out in the US...well, I couldn't find it.  Got wind of them making a NYC appearance about a month ago and moved the record into my player, the thinking being an impending release date was near. And boy, was I wrong...

Wrong because I think the record is still import-only for a physical copy.  Wrong because I expected more of the album to impress like the above song.  I'm going to keep just one more from the proper eleven tracks (deluxe extras in a minute), and it's a cover, no less.  This in no way means the record isn't good.  There are plenty of excellent elements involved, the most prominent being the young lass and her voice.  I'm guessing she and her band mates are approximately 24 years old so there's plenty of future for them.  I just don't believe the girl's voice is strong enough to carry the band, though many disagree.  Most comparisons are to Florence + the Machine (yuck...), which if I'd read those before making the purchase I doubt I would have.  I find this girl's pipes more accessible than Ms. Welch's yowl (I just shuddered at the thought).  I also saw Kate Bush's name in a couple of reviews (but I didn't get that at all) and others said it's like Fiona Apple fronting the xx.  Can't admit to knowing much about the extra large band but what I heard included Annie Lennox, Everything But The Girl, Christine McVie, Cowboy Junkies, All About Eve, even Sade at one point.  I've seen the music labeled trip-hop, chillout, electronica, etc., yet none of those truly fit.  My audio note said, "...this album requires a deeper state of stoned than I get anymore, the kind where you liquefy onto a chair or sofa and need to be peeled off."  Any suggestions of a one-word definition will be willingly accepted. 

I mentioned the deluxe extras earlier and they seem to have more momentum than the majority of the album proper.  I can't seem to find much else about them.  The album contains tracks from an earlier EP, one song was featured in a movie, another is actually by an artist called Disclosure (???????) and London Grammar was featured on it. 

One of my other concerns was whether or not LG's young chanteuse could sing live or was the record studio magic.  I found this segment from right about the time I discovered them...



OK, so she can pull it off.  Rather easy on the eyes, too, don't you think?  That doesn't hurt in this music market.  The band comes back stateside for about fifteen shows beginning one month from today.  I hope the attendees will shut the fuck up and show some class this time around as the band's previous gigs here were plagued by loud, rude Americans.  They aren't coming to Orlando, and I'm slightly disappointed, even though I'm only keeping a quarter of this release. 

But there is mucho potential here...