Being touted as a return to the form of past glories like 100 Broken Windows and The Remote Part, Idlewild’s latest, Make Another World (Sanctuary), is indeed built upon the guitar noise fits of fancy that were largely grounded on 2005’s Warnings/Promises. But more than a return, the album takes off from the Scots’ past vitriolic cadence to venture further abroad. “In Competition for the Worst Time,” is probably the best the band has ever sounded on record, injected with a good deal of youthful wallop and Thermals-like mantras. The album’s title track recalls Boy-era U2 (a good thing), while “If It Takes You Home” is two minutes of pure spitfire. Idlewild’s greatest asset has always been finding catharsis for their taciturn themes in walls of rock bliss, turning doubt and unhappiness into almost joyful cascades of sound. So if Warnings/Promises was the sound of Idlewild maturing, then Make Another World is the band realizing that growing older doesn’t mean being quiet.
Listen: MP3s at Hype Machine
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