Supergrass - 'St Petersburg' (Parlophone)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
The talk of this new acoustic side to Supergrass is justified, but not entirely surprising. They're a guitar band, for them to simply play their instruments without the help of electricity isn't a bolt from the blue. Forget the acoustic side to it - when exactly did they start using this much piano?
It's the tinkling of the ivories rather than the gentle strumming of six unplugged strings that makes 'St Petersburg' both a change of direction and a pleasure. Not so much has changed. The essence of Supergrass, the inescapable fact that they write brilliant songs that even at their peak have never caught a wide enough audience, is still here. A little more weary, a little less jovial and requiring a little longer to set up home in the brain, but present none the less.
Where their contemporaries attempt hit and miss experiments with all kinds of aspects of their sound, Supergrass can cleverly fiddle with their main strength without taking away from any of its beautifully melodic power. Be damn thankful, and get sombrely tapping those feet.
Artists in this article: Supergrass
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