Review - The Horrible Crowes – Elsie

Taking a sabbatical from his day job fronting The Gaslight Anthem, you would think that Brian Fallon would be spending some time enjoying the fruits of his labour over the past few years, rather than throwing himself headfirst into a new side project. That is not the case though, as he bursts back onto the scene with his sometime guitar tech Ian Perkins as The Horrible Crowes.

Parading a more haunting, often delicate sound when compared to his Gaslight work, you can see why he opted to release some of this material under a different moniker. A lot of it is quite brooding and reflective at times, particularly the fragile sounds of the likes of Sugar, Cherry Blossoms and the closing I Believe Jesus Brought Us Together, and would sound out of place on a Gaslight record. Having said that though, a handful of songs sound as though they would not be out of place on the new Gaslight album, and it is undoubtedly these songs that are the highlights of a collection that, although often dazzlingly beautiful and simplistic, does sound a little sleepy in places.

Lead single Behold The Hurricane is a fantastic song, and is a little faster paced than some of the tracks here; the same with the excellent Go Tell Everybody, and Crush.

What shines throughout though is the genius of Brian Fallon as a lyricist, and this further cements his reputation as one of the finest singers and songwriters in a generation. Beautiful, often heartbreaking melodies are intertwined throughout, and although not as instant as a Gaslight album, Elsie is still a joy to listen to.

It does struggle to live up to his day job in places, and as such is not as accessible as some of his previous output, but with his collaborator Perkins, Fallon has passed the downtime between records with pure class and invention, and shows that he is still at the top of his game. His vocals are some of the most moving you will hear all year on this.

Ultimately it doesn’t transcend his work with Gaslight, but is still an enjoyable listen as we anxiously await the return of the mans primary concern.

7/10