Idlewild - 'Warnings / Promises' (Parlophone)
2/5
By: Tim Dellow
The stage is set for the performance of a lifetime. For years, the actor has been preparing the role, exercising, rehearsing, and demonstrating his capability; reaching towards greatness. And then, as the curtain rises, he forgets his lines, or worse, what he meant, who he is and who he's supposed to be portraying.
On this, Idlewild's fifth album (counting the astounding mini-set 'Captain'), Roddy Woomble has led Mk.2 of the band to America, effacing the Scottish identity that they were so adamant to establish on the previous near-breakthrough 'The Remote Part'.
And this album has three types of song, all aimed squarely at conquering America:
1. The roomy, garage-esque noise-romp, designed to appeal to the college radio DJ.
2. The acoustic, string-laden lament for a loved one/the infallible tendency of life to reveal what you lack, and how this lack can never be fulfilled. Aimed at bedroom poets in the Midwest.
3. The ROCK track. Subtly merging acoustic guitars with a bombastic hyper-expensive drive, which is over in a Rapid Eye Movement. Aimed at, well, everyone.
And it's an effective formula, down to the faux-Western type font that now declares the band's presence, and the sporadic slide guitar hoedowns. To his detriment, Roddy is too eager to dismiss his past, stating that this is not an instant album, but his lyrical masterpiece, displaying an eloquence way beyond his previous capabilities. Bull. Shit.
The sultry, oblique imagery 'Captain' merged with his diligent commitment to studying poetry and philosophy, culminating in the autodidactic masterpiece that was '100 Broken Windows', is far, far superior to any of the lyrical content on this record.
Yes, he proves his deftness at competent couplets on 'El Capitan' (FOOTNOTE 1), opening with the lines 'By the harbour, I harbour the strangest memories', quoting their astounding, ancient b-side 'Meet Me At The Harbour' (download it now!), before cataloguing a list of metaphors from their back catalogue: 'Photographs', 'Lights...' you get the idea. But stripped from its original context, this imagery means nothing; it is but a cracked signpost, a signifier with no true meaning. 'I'm not sure of where I want to be...' admits Roddy, before launching into the most cringe-worthy song of their career; 'Silhouetted by a sun, without sunlight... I'm connected to the places I don't feel connected from.'
The words ring hollow, it sounds like he can't even convince himself. And now we find ourselves feeling truly disconnected from the band we once cared so much about. This was a film about the future, it was the future of your life, which you thought was certain. Well (sigh), nothing is certain.
FOOTNOTE 1: Is this Spanish, or Mexican? A translation of their previous song/album-title 'Captain' = a further demonstration of the identity crisis that surrounds the group on this album!
Artists in this article: Idlewild
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