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Review: Jack Foley
HAVING forced the sceptics to take notice with their last album,
Comfort in Sound, Feeder go from strength to strength
with Pushing The Senses, their fifth and most ambitious
studio album.
Building on the strong songwriting and engaging melodies that
have become their trademark, Grant Nicholas and Taka Hirose, together
with new drummer, Mark Richardson, and long-standing producer,
Gil Norton, have delivered an outstanding collection of songs
that rate among the finest of their career.
Lead single, Tumble and Fall, is typical of what to
expect - a song rich in the sun-drenched sound of the Californian-music
scene that also maintains strong roots with its British background
(complete with Fran Healy on backing vocals).
The excellent building guitar and the sweet, melodic chorus are
equally as good as previous efforts such as Just The Way I'm
Feeling and Find The Colour, while also serving
to demonstrate the newfound maturity of the band as a collective
whole.
Likewise, the gentle ballad, Tender, that grips from
the moment its piano eases the listener in, before revelling in
the quiet restraint of Nicholas' easygoing vocals.
Both tracks demonstrate Feeder's uncanny ability to deliver a
great feel-good chorus.
And while the album may be quieter on the whole than past efforts,
such as Echo Park and Yesterday Went Too Soon,
there are still the odd tracks that bring back the guilty pleasure
of listening to the likes of Buck Rogers and Seven
Days In The Sun.
Take, for instance, the unadulterated power-pop of title track,
Pushing The Senses, with its breezy, clap happy guitar
riffs and sing-along chorus, which marks it out as a surefire
contender for one of the best tracks of the year!
Or the blasts of power that resonate throughout the stadium-anthem,
Pilgrim Soul, that marks the band at its most powerful
and epic.
With Pushing The Senses, Feeder may be attempting to
reach a higher level than ever before, but the journey is almost
effortless.
The album contains a vibe that is reserved for only the best
bands; those who have become comfortable with who they are, yet
aren't afraid to push themselves further.
It is an epic, inspiring and completely captivating listen that
should easily become the band's most commercially-successful effort
to date. Anything less would be a tragedy.
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