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Music reviews |
Idlewild - The Remote Part
While not a departure for Idlewild, the ballads are gorgeous and the faster songs rock.
Capitol Records
Release date: 7/15/02
Rating: B+1. You Held the World in Your Arms 3:21
2. A Modern Way of Letting Go 2:23
3. American English 4:34
4. I Never Wanted 3:55
5. (I Am) What I Am Not 2:43
6. Live in a Hiding Place 3:16
7. Out of Routine 3:09
8. Century After Century 4:01
9. Tell Me Ten Words 3:52
10. Stay the Same 3:10
11. In Remote, Pt.1/Scottish Fiction 3:53Scotland’s Idlewild keeps getting better. The Remote Part continues where 2000’s 100 Broken Windows left off, another collection of blistering rockers, melodic ballads and intelligent lyrics.
It’s a very radio-friendly album, but good luck trying to hear it on the radio. While Idlewild packs them in when touring Europe, and The Remote Part spawned several hits in England, they’re virtually unknown in the United States. (While they play soccer stadiums in Europe, they attracted maybe 150 people when I saw them in DC’s 9:30 Club earlier this year.) Much of the blame for this must be placed with their label, Capitol Records, which has shown no interest in promoting them here. Though The Remote Part’s UK release occurred back in July 2002, Capitol's grinding machinery couldn't get it to you here in the States (except as an import) until March 2003. (In other words, for eight months most of Idlewild's small but loyal U.S. following could only hear the group's new album by downloading it illegally. Duh!)
And that’s a shame. It would be nice to hear mainstream radio play a bit less Good Charlotte and Puddle of Mudd and make room for fuzzy-guitared rockers like “A Modern Way of Letting Go,” “Out of Routine” or “(I Am) What I Am Not.” Unlike a lot of what U.S. kids are listening to, though, even these faster-paced tracks are perhaps a bit restrained: though Rod Jones’ guitar is turned all the way up and drummer Colin Newton keeps a loud, fast tempo, the production is very clear and singer Roddy Woomble keeps it melodic – no anguished howls here. (There’s even harmonies amid the controlled cacophony of “Out of Routine” and “A Modern Way.”)
The real high point of The Remote Part, however, is its slower-paced ballads. “American English” (just try to press your “stop” button while this one’s playing), “Live in a Hiding Place,” “I Never Wanted” and “Tell Me Ten Words” are some of the best pop songs to come around in a while, sweet and catchy yet saved from mawkishness by decent lyrics, liberal sprinklings of electric guitar, and drums kept loud in the mix to avoid any sense of meandering. Strummed acoustic guitars and piano carry “American English” – an instant hit if it ever gets heard here – to its soaring chorus. With the same ingredients plus backing vocals and harmonies, “Live in a Hiding Place” and “Tell Me Ten Words” are the sound of a band in its prime.
The lyrics, though nothing to be ashamed of, are certainly not poetry and often nonsensical. Most songs seem to be about alienation or shutting oneself from the rest of the world, not exactly new themes in the post-grunge era. “You Held the World…” offers a good example: “When you're secure, do you feel much safer? / As days never change, and it's three years later / It's like your life hasn't changed, / And it's three years late / So how does it feel, to be three years late? / And watching your youth drift away.”
The Remote Part is a good-to-great album. Not a classic, though: not all tracks are masterpieces. “Century after Century” and “Stay the Same” are earnest but a bit boring. The final track, “In Remote, Pt.1/Scottish Fiction” is a pretty ballad outdone by ambition, ending with swirling, minor-key guitars overlaid with a not-completely-audible poem read by Scottish poet Edwin Morgan. The guitar-and-synth onslaught of “You Held the World…,” the album opener, sounds a bit overwrought after a few listens.
Also, there is no new ground being broken here. While they do it better than most of their contemporaries, Idlewild do not stray from the late ‘90s / early ‘00s indie-rock template – or even from the sound of 100 Broken Windows. Not that every group should be making Kid A, and Idlewild doesn’t sound exactly like anyone else – but The Remote Part reveals influences from British contemporaries like Coldplay, Doves and Travis, as well as U.S. institutions like the Flaming Lips, Jimmy Eat World and Built to Spill. That said, even if Idlewild puts out a half-dozen more albums that sound exactly like 100 Broken Windows and The Remote Part, they’ll still be far superior to most of what’s out there.
Though not particularly unique, Idlewild are not easy to pigeonhole, either. They don’t fit cleanly into an A&R category like “Britpop,” “emo” or “power pop.” This may explain why Capitol Records’ brilliant corps of execs can’t figure out how to market them in the United States.
