Declan Marron writes.
It doesn’t take a genius to crack the concept of the latest Noah and The Whale (NATW) album ‘Last Night On Earth’. Clearly the album’s concept is moving on from a relationship and the progress singer Charles Fink has made in doing so, since the end of his relationship with fellow Nu-Folker Laura Marling.
This becomes even clearer if you can decrypt the clever code in the new single L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. If you remove the dots, well you can see where I’m going with this. Songs such as Just Before We Met, Old Joy and Life is Life perhaps prove Fink is up and running again.
Since exploding on to the scene with hit single ‘Five Years Time’ and debut album ‘Peaceful The World Lays Me Down’ the bands tone has dropped from joy filled frolicking on a sunny day to moping in bed in the dark music.
The latest album returns the Londoners to their upbeat style although this time without the distinct indie folk sound that made them who they are. To my disappointment, the new LP is ruled by synth- pop. The important thing is that it makes Charles Fink happy, as the last thing I want is another sad break up album.
Basically the album is blissful synth-pop with little to no folk at all and quite average at that. The drastic change may alienate older fans without attracting a large amount of new ones, because it lacks a chart topper. The album’s first single reached number 30 in the UK charts and for me there’s not many songs on the album that could do much better.
‘Last Night On Earth’ isn’t a bad album, it’s just not the album most people will have expected. The opening song ‘Life is Life’ really sets the tone and you may even think you’ve put on a Passion Pit Cd instead. It’s a shame as in my view NATW had an original manor of fusing pop and folk and without seeming cool, managing to seem and sound likeable.
The new LP is enjoyable and uplifting and this is why it may succeed but as far as furthering the band’s name or gaining recognition from fans of the folk genre, it has definitely failed.
