Elbow: Cast of Thousands

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * * *)

Elbow are one of those bands that serve to remind you that it's not all Radiohead and Coldplay up the smart and sensitive end of English rock.

Like fellow travellers the Doves, the only thing standing between them and greater recognition, it seems, is the lack of an image via a wonky-eyed or film star-courting frontman. Their second album after 2001's fine Mercury Prize-nominated Asleep at the Back, Cast of Thousands manages to be a moodier, slower, sadder, even more quietly majestic affair than its predecessor.

That's right from the opener Ribcage where the voice of Guy Garvey - a singer who can sound like a tranquillised Peter Gabriel - gets a tailwind from the backing vocals of the London Community Gospel Choir. Or when it swings from the dreamy Nick Drake-ish start of Fugitive Motel into its exultant and achingly beautiful chorus. Or when on Snooks (Progress Report) its meditative rumble is suddenly sliced by a heart-attack slab of jagged noise that whatshisname from Radiohead would be mightly proud to call his own.

There's a fair amount of good Anglo-angst and melancholy about the place (yes, it could be said that Elbow make music to slash your wrists by), especially on ballads like Switching Off. But, helped by its askew, atmospheric, and intimate production, there's something deadly creepy about the likes of I've Got Your Number. And its blend of low-key psychedelia and unsettling moods makes Cast of Thousands a great album.

Label: V2