Working with Radiohead's producer certainly has changed things. The album opens with a very melodic introspective piece before blasting into the first proper IDLES song "Gift Horse". This is supposed to be an album of love songs, but the punchy delivery might make you question that. There is more groove to this. It is more post-punk and less punk, which I prefer. Bloc Party with less Gang of Four influence might be a fair point of reference. 'Pop Pop Pop' almost feels like hip-hop. Joe Talbot navigates these less organic beats with ease. 'Roy" is darker and less dancey. Talbot's voice has really improved over the year and on this album, he is a legit singer. His range might have only marginally improved, but he has a keen sense of where to put his voice and knows his limitations.
His new improved voice can best be heard in "A Gospel". While I appreciate his performance, the song itself is the kind of ballad that would have been better left for Radiohead, as it does not play to the band's strength. "Dancer" however finds the new direction working more effectively as it takes what they do and expands upon it. The way they have expanded the sonic colors they paint these songs with is impressive. 'Grace' finds them falling back into more electronic balladry. Once again appreciate the effort but it might have been better left to Radiohead. "Hall & Oates' finds the pace picking up and their instruments plugged back in. The middle section has Talbot's vocal performance yet.
'Jungle" manages to compliment the album's more introspective direction while being dynamic and not falling into balladry that is outside of their wheelhouse. I like the lurking mood of "Gratitude". The thing about experimenting with your sound is some are going to work better than others. This can be heard in the last song, which is less effective in this regard. I will round this up to an 8.5, not album of the year quality, but I respect the growth they made, there are some solid fun songs on here. If you are looking for a punk album this is not it.
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