Not long ago, Elbow was heading onto the Pyramid Stage and the promise of something new was bubbling away, softly, in the background. Lover’s Leap jumps into view two years on from such a performance – overshadowed as everyone else was by Crowded House. But what a year it was for the festival to end all festivals, and how high a bar they set for the dull years of UK festivals to follow. Either way the excitement to come from Elbow of all bands, their heyday and Richard Hawley collaborations long behind them, was stunning. It shifted the tone for a band whose credible consistencies are matched only by the likes of Manic Street Preachers and those who can still create without the infighting spilling over. Lover’s Leap, their latest single ahead of wonderfully titled Audio Vertigo, is a big step for a band used to casually shuffling.
Credit to Elbow for selecting The Waeve as their openers for this headlining tour – Lover’s Leap is very much in step with the jazz fusion and dark art rock of Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall. Laden with percussion and focused on some electronically manipulated vocal work from Guy Garvey, the spiralling trust and the desire to take the hand of a weathered guide is as convincing as it gets for Elbow. Masterful production and a heartening change of pace from the glory days which listeners of this are no doubt well-versed in. Tremendous clarity pours through these lyrical turns. Grasp out for Garvey, hold on tight and take on board the new and booming groove Lover’s Leap presents.
These are the gnarly turns Garvey had set out to conjure, a stripped-back appeal which finds the band plugging away at a new form. Their inspired change has a thumping, spoken-word sense at times which Garvey soon vaults from, his voice rising and breaking from the layers of manipulation set to it in the start. He rallies against the horrors of the new generation and calls out the shame which plagues the world. Lover’s Leap is a blind leap for Elbow who turns what could have been a risky plunge into the instrumentally vivid and almost improvised turns into an assured and constant flow of refined anger. Elbow has ebbed and flowed with the times, but interest in their efforts should hopefully catapult back to peak levels with the incredible quality set for Audio Vertigo.
Based on the consistency and replay value of Lover’s Leap, there is plenty to tune into and tide ourselves over with until the inevitable release. Elbow has rekindled their passion for danger and provided themselves and their listeners with a new challenge. Make no mistake, it is a challenge. Elbow has attempted and successfully removed themselves from the expectations of their craft. They are now free to engage in this freefall, the onus is on them to make this work. Lover’s Leap is an essential part of their discography, without a doubt. Whether Audio Vertigo is up to the lofty heights set out by this record is yet to be seen, but when Garvey and company feel this freed and lively, it is hard not to push expectations even higher than they are at present.
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