There’s a certain confidence and swagger to the first album from Envy & Other Sins.
‘We Leave At Dawn’ is the opening gambit from a band that was allegedly forged in the ‘fires of Birmingham’ (please, that’s the press pack wording, not my own). They got their big break in 2007 courtesy of the Channel 4 Mobile Act Unsigned. Yes, its true they reached our ears courtesy of yet another TV competition. However there is a distinct absence of Cowell induced naffness in this offering.
This is pure and simply a clean as a whistle pop offering, albeit bordering on the slightly heavier side of the recent skinny kid pop stylings. Is it manufactured?, well it certainly feels that way to some degree. The only analogy I can find is a pretty ropey one. Its like if Muse went through a Kooks style stage school scenario and came out the other end with a decent clutch of songs (a la Muse’s first album but with less drama)with some tasty production and a bit of a flourish about them.
The album is out on March 31st
Of course the ‘cool kids’ wouldn’t offer them the thin end of a hatchet but we aren’t the NME here gang. There is something of note if not of particular relevance here. Have a listen to the opening single ‘Highness’ and you will see what I mean, there’s enough polish here for you to see your face in the reflection the band leave behind.
So in essence you have ten songs of favourable quality, nothing here that will change your life or redefine music but like so much that is on offer these days, its enough to keep us treading water till the next big thing drops.
