In 2013, London Grammar provide a rare brand of unpretentious and unaffected atmospheric rock. It's a sound that has a timeless quality, one that distances itself effortlessly from the two-a-penny atmo-folk and alt. indie crowds. And the best thing is that, 5 songs down the line, there are no duffs - each one is an emotional knockout.
Of course this is heavily down to the phenomenal voice of Hannah Reid, which cannot be praised enough. Even bringing a heart and soul to a Disclosure track last month (a difficult feat - as great as the boys are, emotion is not their forte), Reid's voice carries "Strong" much in the way that it carried the impossibly but blissfully sparse "Hey Now". Whilst "Hey Now" sounded like a distant cry for help, "Strong" picks up where that track left off - yearning and desperate - but is much more confident. "I might seem so strong, I might speak so long, I never been so wrong" laments Reid.
Bit by bit, track by track, London Grammar are getting their message across, gradually breaking out of their withdrawn, mysterious shell. You can hear it in the music - more muscular and textured - in Reid's voice - stronger diction and confident phrasing - and of course, in the words. With each passing track that emerges, the band are gradually beginning to paint a clearer picture of what they are really all about.
FOR FANS OF: Massive Attack, Mt Wolf, Daughter
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