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It is, it would seem, perfectly possible to have
too much of a good thing. Or at least to have a good
thing too often, so that by the time you get all of it
in one go, you've had so many small chunks over the
past year that you're just a little bit fed up with it
and the novelty has worn off.
So it is with Noah And The Whale. Good as they are,
weeks of radio play, four singles - of which only two
are present here - and a Sunday Times Best Of Indie
giveaway have, sadly, dulled their appeal. This is a
shame as they have a lot going for them: a less ironic
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly; a less nutso Jim
Noir; a cheerier Will Oldham; a more
English Handsome Family... these things should
knit together perfectly and in the most part, they do.
On top of that, one of their number is described as
'Urby Whale on bass and harmonium', for which they
deserve extra points alone, and Charlie Fink is a
pretty good name for a front man while they're at it,
as well.
Charlie's voice is deep and clear, the perfect foil
for Laura Marling, who was once a member of the
band and still performs with them (to best effect here
on Second Lover, 5 Years Time and Mary). Fink, who
also produced Marling's debut album Alas I Cannot
Swim, shines out above the fiddle, drums and
harmoniums even without her accompaniments.
The songs are catchy, neatly twee-core without
disappearing too far up their own cuteness, but maybe
they've missed the boat just a little, coming somewhat
late into a scene that's been around for a couple of
years now and really needs something a little
different inserted into it to grab the fickle
attention of the
freak-folk/nu-folk/anti-folk/insert-new-sub-sub-genre-name-here-folk
crowd. Coming from Twickenham and drafting in Laura
Marling for the girlie bits isn't even original itself
anymore.
After giving Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down a
hard time, however, it's a difficult album not to
like. It's gentle enough to be background music,
lively enough to be worth listening to for the sake of
it, and certainly an impressive achievement for a
21-year-old's debut.
Give it the benefit of the doubt on the basis that
all its faults are down to over-exposure. Stick it in
a drawer for a year, come back to it when it's
disappeared from the radio waves and you've gone a
good few months without hearing it and you might find
that Noah And The Whale are much better than you
remember them being. As good, in fact, as you thought
they were the first time you heard them.
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Mercury Prize 2009 nominees
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INTERVIEW:
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