Other Lives – Tamer Animals

June 14, 2011

Back in April we introduced all our regular readers (hi Tom & Tim) to the sensational Other Lives.

Since then they’ve kindly let me listen to a sneak preview of their upcoming second album Tamer Animals. Which I predict will be a firm favourite in everyone’s ‘albums of the year’ lists come December.

From delicately placed horns on the opener Dark Horse through to the vibrant strings on the closing Landforms and then Heading East we find that the album is a pure eclectic delight. Dark, echo filled, broody songs aren’t supposed to be quite so uplifting but somehow Other Lives deliver a selection of songs that stir emotions and seem to hit you first in the gut, then the ears. You’ll hear a lot of the radio friendly For 12 and the title track Tamer Animals but Dust Bowl III and As I Lay My Head Down will doubtless emerge as much listened to, much loved tracks.

At times the album veers dangerously close to overloading on the folksy, melancholic, village green on a winters night feel. You can almost picture a bunch of lightly sozzled Morris dancers, stumbling round the maypole, crying over the lost farmers daughter. Bizarrely the brief cowboy, western vibes seem to rescue the album from a sobbing dive into the doldrums and lift it to something brilliant but unexplainable. All in all an album you’ll come back to again and again.

So far they’ve only let For 12 out the box (buy it on iTunes) and have recently released a video for it: