the silent league - the orchestra, sadly, has refused
released a long time ago now, and i am rather ashamed to admit i never got around to reviewing this, despite loving the album far far more than many other things i actually did write about. so why was this gorgeous slice of widescreen harmony rich melancholy left unloved ? the truth is, the depth and scope of the album that revealed itself more and more upon each listen meant that i could never face putting my sticky fingers onto the keyboard to try and describe the breadth and scope on offer across the albums 11 tracks. nor could i stretch my limited wordplay to provide justice to the albums story arc of a desire to retreat back to a world where radio was the premium form of entertainment (many lyrical references to such innocent times are dropped in from time to time). so each time i listened, i became more and more stuck as to what to write, despite becoming more and more enthralled with each listen.
whereas today ? well i decided that i am not bothered about the grand writing exercise. instead, i'm just going to say that the album is excellent. really really fucking excellent. yes, the bands mainstay, justin russo, worked on mercury revs critically acclaimed stuff, and there are connections style wise within these paeans to 70's mor (they have also covered an elo track for a limited b-side - so i know they love the mush as much as i do!) with the softly focussed but rich and detailed instrumentation, the delicate piano/vocal interplay (coldplay this is not) and the total warm fuzziness such tracks as the modern classic 'breathe', surely provide.
so there you have it, a modern classic that no-one bloody knows about, you can't say i haven't told you now can you.
oh, and the latest news is, there is more music on its way. head over to the bands website and dig around.
official band website : link
record label : something in construction