Idlewild - Warnings/Promised (Emi) By Steve Rudd

It might be somewhat incredible to comprehend, but these guys have been around now for an entire decade, having got together as a band back in Edinburgh circa 1995. Ten years down the line, and this is Idlewild:'s astonishing fifth album, packed with twelve stunning tunes. Kicking off with the brilliant single release Love Steals Us From Loneliness, there is something splendidly magical about every last song on this album, with the balance of ballads and rockers making for a vibrant and altogether well-rounded collection of songs.

It isn't just the aforementioned single release that is gorgeously heart-rending and starkly poetic, and there seems to be a distinctive Americana-arched edge to many of their songs, not least the marvellously melancholic As If I Hadn't Slept masterpiece that might remind a few people of REM's greatness. Disconnected meanwhile, hears a pedal steel guitar wail away in a Countrified manner that works wonders. And it's not just the Idlewild: sound that has to some extents gone Stateside (which might be partly explained by the fact that the band has spent some quality time over in the US touring with monsters of rock Pearl Jam), for Idlewild: singer Roddy Woomble actually now lives over there in New York.

The other four band members still live in Britain or Eire, so it must be awkward for them to meet up sometimes if they feel like a band practise, but hey - these guys have long been seasoned professionals. Still, they do have a new bassist in the band called Gav Fox, who joins Rod Jones and Allan Stewart on the guitars, and Colin Newton on the drums.

The majority of this album is acoustic-based, with Welcome Home being a lush few minutes of sheer tenderness, before I Want A Warning bustles forth and proves to be a good old rocker of the sort that the band used to be so well-known for prior to them mellowing out. Too Long Awake hears a truly exhilarating marriage of screaming guitars and a bombastic bass-line to die for, while Not Just Sometimes But Always stuns the senses in the shape of yet another beautiful acoustic wonder. In truth, every song possesses the powerful potential to break your heart, so listen up close to these warnings and promises. You never know what you might find.

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