hello, this is bombay bicycle club, may i take your orderings please? folk, yes we do folk. would you like pilau rice with that?

album review >> bombay bicycle club >> flaws

if you're going to listen to an acoustic album, you need to be in exactly the right mood. my mood today is sleepy, hungover, and ridiculously hot. bombay bicycle club are about to release 'flaws' (out on monday 12th july), possibly the perfect album for my current state of mind.

this is a massive (presumably temporary) step away from the sound of bbc's first album 'i had the blues but i shook them loose', and there's not much on 'flaws' that will get your heart racing or your arms aloft as their first album did with such indie hits as 'evening/morning', but that's obviously not the angle of this record. what the new songs lack in effects and electronic zest, they make up for in haunted acoustic folk, heavily doused in nick drake and neil young. also on show is a maturing voice delivering more endearing lyrics; lead man jack steadman's vocals sound particularly impressive fronting this new found folk sound. highlights include the cover of john martyn's 'fairytale lullaby', the song from which the album takes its name 'flaws' and the stripped back version of 'dust on the ground', which is possibly better than the version found on their debut album. unfortunately i found some songs to be a little repetitive and forgettable as is regularly the issue with an acoustic album, but that's not to say i didn't appreciate the crouch end boys new sound, indeed praise is due for displaying such a brave and creative alter-ego. the band now embark on a nationwide church and chapel tour, but have promised to revisit their more varied classical indie sounds for their festival dates.

as my saturday night draws closer, i realise this isn't going to be the soundtrack to get spruced and bruced to, but for now, as i sit resembling a lobster, struggling in the hot english sunshine, it's perfect.

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