London Grammar - If You Wait Album Review

By James Bale /

rating: 4.5

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London Grammar are a trio from London, England comprising of Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dot Major. To date they have released three singles and EPs: Metal & Dust, Wasting My Young Years, and Strong. If You Wait is their debut album and was released on 9th September. London Grammar are one of the few bands I have heard of late who have really dragged me into their musical spell. A combination of ambience, trance and a classical aura create an intoxicating blend which somewhat demands you to listen to them. Their Soundcloud page and them featuring on Disclosure's No.1 album pulled me into their sound - demanding my attention, and subsequently my adoration. 'Hey Now' is the first track we encounter and sets the mood for the whole album. It is chilled, relaxing and enthralling. Hannah's vocals are similar to those of Florence Welch from Florence & the Machine if you haven't heard of them before. 'Stay Awake' features mellow guitar riffs alongside a powerful cymbal and snare combination carrying the track through. 'Shyer' offers a main picked guitar riff and subtle synths in the background pushing the song forward. Hannah's voice is uniform throughout all the songs meaning they flow excellently between one another. 'Wasting My Young Years' is an orchestral ambient masterpiece and one of the best songs from this glorious album. Slow mellow guitars combined with piano and violins thrown in for good measure. The song lifts in tempo in the middle and then drops back into the acoustic for the latter part. Brilliant. 'Sights' starts with piano chords and echoing guitars fading in the background as more instruments flow in creating an atmospheric backing for the vocals to punch through.'Strong' is the true masterpiece here though. It has everything they have to offer in spades: amazing vocals, fantastic instrumental parts and just screams excellence throughout the 4:35 duration. One of the best songs of the year by far. 'Nightcall' is a simpler song - a cover version of French house artist Kavinsky - featuring mainly piano and Hannah's voice pushing through and commanding the song. Towards the end it features a more upbeat drum section than previously heard throughout the album. 'Metal & Dust' was the band's first single and is more upbeat compared to some of their songs, but works well as an up-tempo number. 'Interlude' combines piano, vocals and a light drum exploit and shows off their talent as a live act as well as a recorded one. 'Flickers' has a South American vibe with the inclusion of bongos which add to the overall sound and progression of the song - slightly different to the rest of the album, but works incredibly well. 'If You Wait' is the final track on the standard album and starts off chilled and ambient. The sound of the piano cuts through the echoing backing with the vocals piercing through. A great way to end an album. With the Deluxe edition you are lucky enough to receive six extra tracks: 'Help', 'Darling Are You Gonna Leave Me', 'Help Me Lose My Mind', 'High Life', 'Maybe' and 'When We Were Young'. The best track out of these has to be 'Help Me Lose My Mind' which is their collaboration with Disclosure. I spoke about how good this song was in my Disclosure review. This is one of the best debut albums of the year - fantastic from start to finish, and should see this small trio go far in the world of music. Simply stunning.