Make Another World: The Crafting of a New Spin
April 13, 2007
Brit pop. I never thought about what a separate and defined genre it was until I listened to the opening track of Idlewild’s Make Another World and immediately drew a comparison to Bloc Party. At first listen, I predicted that the album would be a collection of guitar pop somewhat differentiated from song to song. I was pleasantly surprised at Make Another World, Idlewild’s sixth full-length effort, just released in the United States last week. The album ranges from light guitar pop to angstier bass-driven melodies, to songs that experiment with brass (one song, “Future Works,” is largely driven by the trumpet stylings of guest artist Mick Cooke). The album represents a refreshing change from the current trend in alternative rock; instead of a flowing, stylistically uniform album with songs that run into each other, Idlewild follows up wistful ballads with hard rock tunes, often jarring the listener while showing off their crossover talent.
Idlewild started in the underground Edinborough music scene in Scotland in 1995. After making connections with more established and mainstream bands there, they moved to playing larger venues in the nearby city, Glasgow. By the end of the 90s, Idlewild’s popularity had spread over Great Britain, especially with the release of their first full-length album Hope is Important in 1998. Although still maintaining far higher popularity in Britain and the rest of Europe, they toured the United States for the first time in 2001, and have since emerged on the radar of United States alternative music scene. Although bands like Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand dominate the “Brit pop” genre in the U.S., Idlewild is gaining ground, particularly after extensive coverage by Spin Magazine in 2001 and numerous festival appearances, including at SXSW in Austin, Texas and New York’s Siren Festival.
Ultimately, “Make Another World” mostly sticks to Idlewild’s strength of straight guitar pop, but includes enough different musical styles to create a diverse track list. My favorite song on the album, “Ghost in the Arcade,” is classic Idlewild, including an upbeat, looped electric guitar riff made to sound like electronica, and a catchy, often repeated chorus. Idlewild places heavy emphasis on the musical end of their songs, but what I enjoy the most are songs where they attempt to balance their strength of guitar solo experimentation with Roddy Woomble’s rich vocals. Unlike many lesser-known bands where singers attempt to distinguish themselves by playing up unique (or just odd) vocal qualities, Roddy really just has a beautiful voice. The most effective songs on Make Another World let his vocal talent stand separately from the musicianship of the entire band, and the songs that tipped the balance too heavily towards the instrumentation were disappointing.
In many ways, the strengths of Idlewild’s album are also their weaknesses. I appreciated the diversity of song styles and instruments used. But in fact, some of the more experimental songs often left me fairly unimpressed. When listening to the album, one stays interested the entire time just because the style of the next song is always an unknown. However, some of the songs that deviated from Idlewild’s typical upbeat pop fare were sub par. I was less than impressed with the opening track, “In Competition for the Worst Time.”
The depressing monotony of the song (I immediately thought of a poor imitation of Pavement, without the brilliant lyrics) ignored the inherent strengths of the band. Some of the other songs which try to be too unique fall short of the mark (with the exception of “Future Works” where extensive brass experimentation really establishes the song). My favorite songs on the album, “Ghost in the Arcade,” which I previously mentioned, and the quiet bonus track closer, “Lookin’ for a Love,” both have the characteristic guitar-driven, upbeat qualities that made Idlewild famous in their native Scotland, a fame that has already spread to Europe and continues to overtake the U.S.
Nevertheless, the album is solid. Not ground-breaking, but I get the feeling that is not what this band is about anyway. Idlewild has experimented with diverse styles, to varying degrees of success, but has come a long way in the complexity and appeal of the brand of guitar-driven pop in which they specialize. The CD is definitely worth picking up if you’re looking for a new spin on a popular music style.