Liverpool sound and vision Rating * * * *
Nottingham has changed in the last 30 years; some parts may be unrecognisable to those who first made their way to the city and outlying areas at the start of the 1980s in the hope of catching their favourite bands perform in some of the town’s more interesting venues and even more salubrious settings. The surface may have changed, even become more welcoming in some places as Nottingham realises it has a duty to the next generation of its young and not be the hotbed of tourism mania in which to grab the next pound from unsuspecting sightseers and day-trippers
From that youthful look, the lively and energetic springs forth to make their own mark on a city and with the meeting places that surround Nottingham University, the ambient, near spectral voice and composition of London Grammar and their debut album If You Wait is the latest in a long line of groups willing for the old ghosts that hang over a city’s musical past to let them be recognised for what they can offer and the result is one unearthly delight that freezes the soul and touches some forgotten deep passion.
Whilst a voice can captivate, it is nothing without the music behind it. As an actor or orator needs a setting to give his or her words purpose, so a vocalist, even one with the sure fire quality and ominous signs of future greatness of Hannah Reid which demands attentiveness, needs something incredible behind it to make it memorable, a setting, a stage or in this case a brooding backdrop in which to shine. With the splendid Dan Rothman and multi-instrumentalist Dot Major contributing much to the ethereal distinguished overall quality.
If university is a hotbed of ideas and social radical thought, then on tracks such as Stay Awake, Shyer, the mournful but absorbing Wasting My Young Years and Nightcall the allusion is wonderfully taken apart, swept away and put back together in such a way that is decent, fresh, beautiful and inspiring without having to grab someone by the lapels and requiring them to argue about the merits of each song.
Nottingham may be more appreciated for many things, history, sport, social upheaval but as the 21st Century gathers pace, it has harboured the beginnings of a group that is destined to shape music for a long time to come.
Ian D. Hall