The Electric Soft Parade No Need To Be Downhearted (Truck)
3/5
By: Alex Lee Thomson
The Brothers White, leaders of ESP, are something of entrepreneurial music pioneers - not only are they the co-writers of a gleaming array of delicate indie soothers in the shape of this bands classic back-catalogue, but they have recently gone onto score massive critical acclaim with their offshoot band, Brakes, with former British Sea Power keyboardist by way of bass drum-banger, Eamon Hamilton. Yet by comparison to their 2006 Brakes album, 'Beatific Visions', this isn't anything monumental, and while the talent is there throughout, there's little heart, or seemingly little anyway, and as such this LP fails to really register.
However, it's not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, in fact it's pretty fantastic with a great helping of imagination, but having spent a few years away from their previously Mercury nominated band, the Whites seem to have lost that sparkling magic that they once had. 'Life In The Backseat' provisionally returns them to a more youthful version of themselves, heaving a retro synchronization up to meet their constantly above-average vocals taking this song into the more memorable areas of the LP. There is an honest translucency in this song that spreads out across the spectrum of compositions within the padded walls of '...Downhearted' that tows the listener in without any shame or fear, finding escapology transversely within.
It's unfair to compare this to Brakes as the two bands are entirely separate entities, but unavoidably we do and when you start to balance the diverse engagements this comes off a heartbreaking second place. You even begin to question why they didn't put their efforts into a third Brakes liberation. There are several lofty instants on this collection from 'Downhearted part 1', through to 'Downhearted part 2' but at no point do you really fall in love with or to it, tragically so. Universally however this album is a great flash-bang of some really impressive voices and instrumentations that for any ESP fan, Brakes-wise or not, will no doubt be well received.
Stream 'If That's The Case' from 'No Need To Be Downhearted' HERE.
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