Absent Elk

Having recently supported squeaky clean rock/pop acts The Hoosiers, The Script and er... Girls Aloud, Absent Elk and their pretty haircuts have been turning their attentions to their album, released earlier this month. With such a 'cultivated’ list of supported acts, I was bracing myself for another terrible, nauseous ride on the generic train. It didn’t take long after track one, 'Sun & Water' to realise I wasn’t quite as nauseous as other previous servings of record companies best attempts at 'one band fits all’ had made me.

Don’t get me wrong; there’s still that nagging feeling there’s some invisible PR machine pushing all the buttons and picking their clothes which stops you truly immersing yourself in what the band are trying to convey, but there is more in the music than most other 'shiny’ bands. More meat, more punch and even a smidgen of true emotion and honest story telling.

The production seems to have also been spared the generic grinder with lush acoustic guitars and lead singer Kjetil Morland’s vocals allowed to express to their full extent. The addictively hooky 'Emily' and the happy-go-lucky 'Cannibals' demonstrate this perfectly whilst softer tracks like 'Change My World' and 'Let Me Know' are Coldplay at their least commercial.

It’s still lightweight and lead singer Kjetil can sound a little like the Kooks lead crooner at some of the more unpleasant points, but at least I wouldn’t switch it off if I heard it on the radio until at least maybe the first twenty listens lets say.