Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
If You Wait provided a glimpse it seems at what London Grammar could show to the world, an album that rightly had the group propelled out of the lecture halls of University and into the serious consideration of many a music fan’s dearest desire. A group to whom the meaning of substantial and forceful was to become a huge compliment and whilst the band were in their infancy, there was huge hope that the trio would eventually be heavyweights; a case of very soon rather than later.
Soon is always a good time, it has potential, it has meaning and anticipation and above all it suggests that Truth Is A Beautiful Thing, that all the hard work that went before by the trio and those that believed in them enough to back them, to ensure that voice and music was heard, was not wasted time, that London Grammar would be seen as the real deal.
Truth is indeed beautiful, it can scar, it can be physically intimidating, it can set fire to everything around it and combust eternally, yet truth is a memory at times we must encounter, we must see it head on and tackle it and treat it for loyal subject that it is; one of no flattery unless it be genuine, no appeal unless it is steeped in candour and whilst truth maybe a dictator, it is also willing to free those who seek the world as one of reality and not fed lies.
Truth Is A Beautiful Thing is a testament to the band and in particular to Hannah Reid in whose voice has truly captured the sense of the unforgiving and the alluring, it is the haunting tone of a legitimacy, of pain staking artistry backed up by musicians who care deeply for the setting and the surroundings in which they place the lyrics and Ms. Reid’s voice to.
In tracks such as Hell To The Liars, Wild Eyed, Bones Of Ribbon and Leave The War With Me, London Grammar excel, they have gone beyond the sense of the debut and opened up a new front in which to wage a war on those who do not give new music, the younger members of the frontier, a chance to grow and be seen to add to the truth we so dearly love.
Truth Is A Beautiful Thing, it is in truth that we find who loves us most and sees us for the beauty we hopefully contain.
Ian D. Hall