If You Wait

Even though this album has been out for as long as 'AM', with the move and the accompanying need for musical hot water bottles, London Grammar have taken a backseat in my listening habits, which I regret after introducing new friends to the band last night (this morning? it's all a happy blur of time).

At the beginning of the summer I explained London Grammar to a friend as being like a more up-beat version of The XX. It might sound like an unoriginal comparison, ignoring the full range of indie-synth-pop around at the moment, but I stand by it. Part of what makes both bands so enjoyable to listen to is the way that they use silence as part of the music - there are whole beats without any sound, which could be jarring but I find interesting. It's almost as though they've approached composition in the same way that you would a 'classical' piece; the silences fill out the music a bit and in a way that you don't often hear with 'modern' music.

Reid's haunting vocals (I seem to use this adjective a lot lately, sorry...) and the depth of the sound make a pleasing counterpoint to a lot of 'pop' music now. The trio also manage to bridge the gaps across a couple of genres in my mind, edging towards trance at times and their previous collaboration with Disclosure only serves to highlight their versatility, especially in comparison to their nearest musical cousins in The XX.

Sometimes I have a slightly take-it-or-leave-it attitude to flyleaves and CD cases, even the slightly 'arty' ones, but the blurry, long-exposure, warm tones and the feel that this is a record very much a part of the London landscape (thankfully, considering their name), and the mini-poster included is already earmarked for a space on my bedroom wall, once I get round to such things...