Album: Broken Records – Until The Earth Begins To Part

ALBUM REVIEW: Broken Records – Until The Earth Begins To Part

Words: Gareth O’Malley

Broken Records. A Scottish seven-piece band that uses instruments such as the violin, the accordion, the cello and the trumpet. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, they do bear some similarities to a certain Canadian seven-piece, and I’m sure you know who I’m talking about. This is something that has come up in pretty much every review I’ve seen of the band’s debut album, ‘Until the Earth Begins to Part’, and it really is an unavoidable comparison. Which is a shame, really, as Broken Records are so much more than Arcade Fire imitators, and it would be foolish to dismiss them thus.

One thing in particular this album, that neither of Arcade Fire’s albums had, is a sense of fun. Yes, you read that right. Even though the album, according to frontman Jamie Sutherland, is “based around all the shit things men do”, the music is joyous on many an occasion here. The album builds from subdued beginnings, however. ‘Nearly Home’’s quiet intro gives way to galloping strings, and, later, Sutherland’s impassioned vocals. It is a fitting start to the album, hinting at what is to come, rather than letting itself get carried away. A violin part segues into the bass-driven second track, the band’s debut single ‘If The News Makes You Sad, Don’t Watch It’, which appears here in a re-recorded form. Called ‘a hymn to apathy’ by the band, it is an excellent track, but, as you’ll soon discover, only the first in a series of highlights.

There are plenty of moments on ‘Until The Earth Begins To Part’. You know the kind I mean, the ‘oh-my-god-this-is-astonishing’ sort of moment. Not the least of these is featured on ‘A Promise’. Piano is the most prominent instrument in the track until around two-and-a-half minutes in, when bass and drums enter and the song takes off. I like to think of this as 2009’s ‘Festival’ (off Sigur Rós’ ‘With A Buzz In Our Ears We Play Endlessly’ – listen to it and you’ll see what I mean). Similar moments occur on ‘Wolves’ and album closer ‘Slow Parade’.

Track number six has the band telling us that ‘If Eilert Løvborg Wrote A Song, It Would Sound Like This’. Surely a contender for second single, it has one of the best choruses I’ve heard this year, and a vaguely Eastern European, quick-tempo feel to it.

Penultimate track ‘A Good Reason’ is the standout here, however. Easily one of the best all-round songs of the year, it boasts a violin melody that stays in your head for days at a time, Lacking a discernable chorus (which is not always a bad thing), its four minutes race by. A highly enjoyable listen.

‘Slow Parade’ finishes the record. A stop-start affair, it is yet another fantastic closer (2009’s list just keeps on growing – much like this record, in fact). Its last two minutes are triumphant – a wall of sound is developed, before the song explodes to bring the curtain down on an excellent album.

There only really seems to be one song that I do not yet like, and that is the underwhelming lead single, the album’s title track, but it’s not really much of a big deal, as the other nine songs are all fantastic. Definitely a band that can develop from here, Broken Records have delivered an album in which there is something for everyone, and it is a remarkably consistent listen despite the mixed bag with which we are presented. A triumphant debut.