Review by Jon Birch
Listen Up Manchester rating: 8/10
Let It All
In is the sixth studio album from Manchester based three-piece, I Am Kloot.
Formed in 1999, the band has maintained a cult status and, with the exception
of 2010’s Sky At Night (which reached no. 24 in the UK Chart and received a Mercury
nomination), none of their previous work has made a mainstream breakthrough
look likely.
Let’s be
clear, Let It All In isn’t going to be the record that does that. It is an
album of well-crafted songs, beautiful in some cases, but what this doesn’t
have is that one track that grabs you and excites you. There is a 60’s pop feel
throughout much of the record, listen to the retro styling’s of Jake Bugg and
Miles Kane and its clear their influence is widely felt. Lyrically, there will
be almost inevitable comparisons with their Manchester compatriots Elbow (front
man Guy Garvey actually produces here, as he did for Sky At Night), and that
does come across in the downtrodden Northern wit present in many of the tracks;
opening track ‘Bullets’ asking ‘Do you think that someone could have snuck into
your life, and overnight has changed the locks?’.
John
Bramwells voice is smoother and clearer than Garvey’s though and there is a
Beatles-esque sound to many of the songs. ‘Some Better Day’ finds Bramwell
almost channelling John Lennon, singing along to a backing track including
trumpets, harmonicas and tambourines.
The majority
of tracks are simple but incredibly well put together compositions but they do
venture into the extravagant occasionally; ‘Hold Back The Night’ builds
progressively to a climax filled with strings and cymbal crashes. They even
step into what could almost be described as psychadelica
on penultimate track ‘These Days Are Mine’. The album finishes as it begins, on
an almost tender note, with the gentle ‘Forgive Me These Reminders’ proving
that it’s sometimes better to go out quietly. It’s possibly the highlight of
the record.
It’s easy to
initially pass this album off as dull or maybe even drab. There is no big hit
on here, no song that stands out above the rest. However, repeated listens are
highly rewarded and the subtleties of the lyrics become more and more apparent each
time you hear them.
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