THE VERVE

THE VERVE
FORTH (2008)
320 KBPS

Warning: the Verve’s wittily titled fourth album--the first since their reformation in 2007--is no Urban Hymns Part II. That much is clear from the album’s first single "Love Is Noise," a punchy-yet-addictive propulsive rocker, but it’s a fact underlined several times on the remainder of the album. Taking a determined stroll along the boulevard of experimentalism, the band mix up their slick strings and ringing guitars with dense drums and murky soundscapes for this comeback album. Opening cut “Sit and Wonder” sets the tone: a lurching, bluesy tune with a loose, jam-session feel that maintains its groove for almost seven minutes. The soaring (and shorter) “Rather Be,” the dreamy “Judas” and the plodding “I See Houses” bring us closer to the classic Verve sound, but the retreat into moody psychedelia continues anew with “Numbness,” the intense “Noise Epic” and the kaleidoscopic, Can-like “Colombo”. Despite these darker moments being indulgently drawn-out at times they serve to raise the more euphonious moments--surprise anthems like “Valium Skies” included--to even more heavenly realms, and create a compelling chiaroscuro along the way.

1. Sit And Wonder
2. Love Is Noise
3. Rather Be
4. Judas
5. Numbness
6. I See Houses
7. Noise Epic
8. Valium Skies
9. Columbo
10. Appalachian Springs