Little Fictions

by 
AlbumFeb 03 / 201710 songs, 48m 33s
Art Pop Indie Rock
Popular Highly Rated

*Little Fictions* is the rather lovely sound of Guy Garvey falling in love. Written around the time of his wedding, it’s an album that swells and soars, bundling Elbow’s sound up with layers of extra warmth. But while songs like “Head for Supplies” and “Kindling” are among the prettiest they’ve written, this isn’t some saccharine record without edge. Opener “Magnificent (She Says)” is stately and bombastic, while the restless “K2” explores Britain’s exit from the European Union.

33

7.1 / 10

Elbow's latest deepens their formula—rich, sweeping rock songs about melancholy and love—with a dreamy sense of loss and time passing.

8 / 10

Shorn of their drummer, Bury’s favourite sons return with a sharp, carefully-crafted statement of a record.

Ever-reliable Mancunians serve up another album that’s as warming as the morning’s fourth whisky

The xx, I See You

Arriving three years after 2014's The Take Off and Landing of Everything -- a span of time that also saw leader Guy Garvey taking a busman's holiday in 2015 with Courting the Squall -- Little Fictions showcases a different but eminently recognizable Elbow.

8.0 / 10

Guy Garvey and his bandmates in Elbow are, at this point, the U.K.'s most consistent elder statesmen of "old-school" alt-rock.

6 / 10

elbow have not yet, it seems, been a band to bow to the pressures of mid-career megastardom. It was over a decade into their career as elbow — more

(Polydor)

Little Fictions distinguishes itself as an Elbow album not quite like any other.

8 / 10

70 %

Album Reviews: Elbow - Little Fictions

Alt-J – Relaxer

Garvey and co serve up some winter warmth. CD new music review by Russ Coffey