The Bell That Never Rang

The Bell That Never Rang is both new and old Lau. New creative approaches with the same Lau sound. Love it.

Lau are a band that I admire, and they are highly critically acclaimed, winning lots of Folk Awards over the years, but they are not by any means your conventional folk group. Previously more abstract and mesmerising electronic effects have been mixed in with their folk roots, and they have sometimes locked into a hypnotic groove. This time Joan Wassier ( Joan as Policewoman) is the more leftfield choice as producer, and there are more lyrics from vocalist Kris Drever on more conventional songs, and less of their pure "tunes". The centrepiece is the epic title track that clocks in at 17 minutes and features the classical female string Elysian Quartet. This is an interesting new departure and was originally commissioned by the Celtic Connections Festival , Glasgow. Lau have earned a deserved reputation for pushing musical boundaries, and are a unique institution , with no one else sounding anything like them. Their music can definitely be a more challenging listen , and sometimes demands that the listener has to really focus with repeated listening to get the most out of them. I am looking forward to seeing them in live performance at the Met at Bury this weekend, that is where their intricacies really shine and you can appreciate the intuitive interplay between this revered trio. This is not for the feint hearted casual listen as background music, it demands your close attention. Live it should be a glorious highly rewarding experience.

The title track is epic, and at times challenging listening. It makes it a little difficult to have this EP on in the background at home unless everyone is ready to stop what they're doing and concentrate or acknowledge the darker, more abstract parts of the track before it resolves and they can carry on.But the investment is worth it: the long track is an important part of a mature record. It's screams bring balance to the more melodic three-minute-song style offerings either side of it on the track listing.Lau are masters of repetition whether in the form of circling jigs and reels, anthemic looped vocal phrases or interlocking complex rhythms. Most importantly they instinctively use repetition like a comedian does to set up a joke. Lau's punch lines are rewarding moments where the bass finds a new octave to anchor something previously flighty, or where a range of apparently unrelated patterns suddenly resolve into a canon or cadence.Ghosts is a simply beautiful track and the stand-out on the EP. At its root this is an example of why choosing which key to play in is more than just picking a pitch which the singer likes. The orchestration makes the most of the game the song plays around the root note, and hits home when it gets there to give the song the heat and darkness the lyrics demand.

Wonderful, I had to listen 3-4 times initially to get into one or two of the tracks, but not difficult as I regularly travel home to North Devon from Herts, so plenty of time and play all their other cds! The first track First Homecoming really 'hit home' for me having just moved to the coast. The Bell That Never Rang track is amazing, starts off very Vaughn Williamsish 'The lark ascending ' which is stunningly beautiful (reminded me of my schooldays!) and deepens and darkens...... my other particular favourite track is Ghosts, beautiful haunting words and music.I would recommend this to any Lau fan, Folk music or even classic music lover!Pauline

Just great music.

great album! Loved it, and now off to see Lau live at teh Barbican in London on Tuesday. What could be better?