★★☆
Concept albums are contemporary music’s perennially uncool uncle – antiquated, lumbering things, forever accidentally embarrassing themselves at the family dinner table.
For every The Suburbs there’s an American Idiot, and even bands creating singularly minded albums like King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard’s Nonagon Infinity avoid invoking the dreaded ‘concept album’ phrase.
Bat For Lashes’ The Bride is unlikely to reinvigorate the genre. Though not an abject failure by any means, it does come with its own fair share of daggy concept album hallmarks, from the ever-so-slightly underwritten quality of the story itself (groom dies, bride goes on a journey of self-discovery, trademark melancholy surreality ensues) to the laughably melodramatic sound effects that kick off ‘Honeymooning Alone’. Nonetheless, the record is spotted here and there with pleasures. ‘Close Encounters’ combines Lynchian mystery and Natasha Khan’s shattered glass vocals to great success, and ‘Clouds’ pulls the record to a close with a surprisingly effective sense of satisfaction. It’s all brittle opera; a prayer that has had its shins grazed, and the sense of tragedy it leaves in its wake is palpable.
Yet despite the strong third act, it’s all too little, too late. Though not a box office bomb, one hopes The Bride doesn’t spawn a sequel.
The BridebyBat For Lashesis out now via Parlophone/Warner.
