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Lamb - What Sound Lamb emerged in the mid-1990s in the wake of the Bristol
model of the "trip-hop duo": winsome female siren out front, male
broody-type twiddling buttons and/or cutting vinyl in the background.
However, even with their first self-titled album, Lamb stood out from the
imitators with their particular production style, and the eccentric character
of Louise Rhode's voice and lyrics. Now that Portishead, the group that started it all, have
all-but-vanished completely, Lamb are still going strong. In fact, they are
improving with age. Lamb's previous album, Fear of Fours (their second), had
some great moments, however Rhodes's voice was masked by digital effects that
ultimately distanced the listener from the songs. Thankfully they have
returned this centre-piece to its naked beauty with What Sound. The lyrics are still obscenely happy, but the music has a
pulsing angst to it that balances all the smiles, and rainbows, and cosmic
harmony. Indeed, I wouldn't have it any other way, since Rhodes's spiritual
tendencies are obviously a significant part of the often-sublime final
product. (If she ever does a depressed "breakup" album, it will
either be astonishingly brilliant, or utterly awful.) This album begins with a great shudder, like a giant
metallic pulse trying to wake up from hibernation, and the complex beats and
arrangements (courtesy of Andy Barlow) manage to continually pull the rug out
from the listener's ears, without damaging the basic ballads or pop songs
that they support. What Sound is their most consistent effort to date,
without one dud track, and Gabriel is the sequel to one of the greatest love
song's of all time, Gorecki. Unlike almost every sequel in history, it is just as good
(if not quite as epic). And this is why Lamb deserve more credit than they
are likely to get. They have given us some of the most beautiful music of the
last few years, and with a formula that so easily could have collapsed into
mediocrity. |
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