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Special Album Review : London Grammar - If You Wait
London Grammar are a trio from London, England comprising of Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dot Major. To date they have released three singles and EPs: Metal & Dust, Wasting My Young Years, and Strong. If You Wait is their debut album and was released on 9th September. London Grammar are one of the few bands I have heard of late who have really dragged me into their musical spell. A combination of ambience, trance and a classical aura create an intoxicating blend which somewhat demands you to listen to them.
If You Wait is the sound of intimacy in an empty, cavernous theater. But at 63 minutes long, it just goes on and on; the songs’ power is diminished the longer it goes, the more you realize they’re just playing with the same elements. Anyone who heard singles (both of which appear on the album) Hey Now and Wasting My Young Years already knows that the British three-piece can pen a pleasing tune. Wasting My Young Years, for instance, is delightful; with rumbling musical drive lifted by emotive, strong vocals. Indeed, Hannah Reid’s voice is the real attraction here. Imagine if Florence Welch fronted The xx, while at the same time calming the fuck down and not being so bombastic… you’d get somewhere close to the London Grammar sound. At the very moment you think Reid is going to burst your eardrums with a Welch-esque cacophonous chorus, she restrains and pulls it back, with haunting results. Elsewhere, the record’s title track closes proceedings with textures and nuances, while some offerings - Metal and Dust for instance – have a certain Massive Attack vibe to them.
London Grammar will celebrate the release of If You Wait with a tour across the US and Canada, kicking off with a sold-out show at Los Angeles’ famed Troubadour on September 25. The tour will see London Grammar crossing North America with stops in cities including San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto and New York before ending in Boston on October 10.
This is one of the best debut albums of the year – fantastic from start to finish, and should see this small trio go far in the world of music. Simply stunning.
London Grammar - If You Wait Tracklist:
1. Hey Now
2. Stay Awake
3. Shyer
4. Wasting My Young Years
5. Sights
6. Strong
7. Nightcall
8. Metal & Dust
9. Interlude
10. Flickers
11. If You Wait
Deluxe (2CD & digital)
1. Help
2. Darling Are You Gonna Leave Me
3. Help Me Lose My Mind (Disclosure feat London Grammar)
4. High Life
5. Maybe
6. When We Were Young
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