shop | mailing lists
musicOMH
music: album reviews
The Proclaimers - Life With You (W14)
UK release date: 3 September 2007
3.5 stars
The Proclaimers - Life With You

buy this title


track listing

1. Life With You
2. In Recognition
3. New Religion
4. Sorry
5. No One Left To Blame
6. Here It Comes Again
7. Blood Lying On The Snow
8. Harness Pain
9. Long Haul
10. Lover's Face
11. Whole Wide World
12. Calender On The Wall
13. If There's A God
The bespectacled Reid twins have often met with stifled titters. It's easy to remember the slightly late '80s cheesiness of I'm Gonna Be 500 Miles and Letter from America but, when you think about it, they were really good songs. So good in fact that Comic Relief can adopt them as their official single and it doesn't seem to do anyone's career any harm.

Not that they would need the likes of Peter Kay and Matt Lucas to revive interest in them. The Proclaimers never really went away. Whilst they've never truly followed up on their early successes south of the border, this Scots duo have had a great year, including a musical based on their work (though you'd be pleased to know this was not written by Ben Elton). They've also appeared on Family Guy - blimey!

By my reckoning this is their seventh album proper and their trademark sound doesn't appear to have shifted a great deal since the days of 500 miles. The brothers have adopted an "If it ain't broke don't fix it" approach and who can blame them? This album is also released under the W14 music imprint, which is run by their first producer and A&R man, so it feels a lot like a homecoming of sorts.

On the surface The Proclaimers are a powerful, toe-tapping singalong act, but lyrically there's a lot of passion and conviction. Some of the most memorable songs on this album tackle subjects as diverse as hypocritical left-wing honour-seeking celebs, misogyny in gangsta rap and the so called war on terror. New Religion attacks those to worship false idols and S-O-R-R-Y reflects on Elton John's assertion that sorry seems to be the hardest word, asking why no one apologises for the Iraq situation.

But this is far from being a depressing album. The title track is a stomping and uplifting jaunt and it's difficult not to warm to their powerful vocals on any of the songs. Blood Lying On Snow is also a great track about lust, not love, and it maintains a powerful traditional folk vibe best sung late at night over a whisky in a pub.

This might be a ride through familiar territory but The Proclaimers specialise in steadfast song writing and this is sure to satisfy their legions of fans. They're easy to dismiss, but with an open mind this album is difficult to dislike. The Proclaimers are still walking the 500 mile walk.

  share: 
Facebook | Digg | del.icio.us | more
Mercury Prize 2009 nominees
FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE SPEECH DEBELLE KASABIAN FRIENDLY FIRES
LA ROUX BAT FOR LASHES THE HORRORS GLASVEGAS
SWEET BILLY PILGRIM THE INVISIBLE LISA HANNIGAN LED BIB




out this week:
Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For The Young The Hidden Cameras - Origin: Orphan Weezer - Raditude
Luke Haines - 21st Century Man Espers - III Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
coming soon:
Martha Wainwright - Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, a Paris Robbie Williams - Reality Killed The Video Star Mariah Carey - Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel
Will Young - The Hits Joe Goddard - Harvest Festival The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Higher Than The Stars EP
recent releases:
Cheryl Cole - Three Words McAlmont & Nyman - The Glare Miike Snow - Miike Snow
Devendra Banhart - What Will Be Will Be Kings Of Convenience - Declaration Of Dependence Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg
Portico Quartet - Isla Annie - Don't Stop Whitney Houston - I Look To You
The Antlers - Hospice BEAK> - BEAK> Atlas Sound - Logos
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport The Flaming Lips - Embryonic Shakira - She Wolf
more album reviews
TOP ARTICLES NOW
GIG: Shirley Bassey dazzles Camden

GIG: HEALTH slay 30 minutes

MORE GIG REVIEWS: Maps, Smokey Robinson, Editors, iLiKETRAiNS, Dizzee Rascal, Doves, The Big Pink, Soap&Skin, Girls, Robbie Williams...

ALBUM: Cheryl Cole: 3 Words

FESTIVAL: In The City 2009

INTERVIEW: Miike Snow on deeply darkly danceable music and why cold is good

RELATED ARTICLES
ALBUM:
The Proclaimers - Life With You



  more album reviews...



musicOMH
about us
contact
copyright
home
elsewhere
Twitter
Facebook
Last.fm
Soundcloud
MySpace
© 1999-2009 OMH