Elbow: 'Neat Little Rows'

When Elbow's 'One Day Like This' struggled to #35 in the charts in 2008, few would have guessed that, a few years on, the friendly Mancs would be gearing up for some fairly massive arena shows all over the country. But, as wittily noted by Charlie Brooker's Konnie's Great British Wee , their fortunes changed when that same song was deployed time and time again by TV types whenever they needed some easy shorthand for "universally uplifting". The following year, the group nabbed the Brit Award for 'Best Group' and Mercury Prize for The Seldom Seen Kid, confirming their belated entrance to the big time. Sure, some of their songs could be a little dreary to some - including this reviewer - but there was always the feeling that Elbow were making music on their own terms, never twisting and turning as part of a people-pleasing agenda.

So, after all those shiny gongs and adoring critical attention, do they stay true to that principle? Of course they do! Even better, 'Neat Little Rows' is a much quirkier offering than many of their earlier singles, its verses stomping their way into your head with an insistent, bassy riff and echoey, treated vocal. Chimes pounded out on the keyboards lead up to a chorus that bears more than a passing resemblance to Echo & The Bunnymen circa 'The Cutter' and the lyrics are appealingly oblique-but-evocative ("Lay my bones in cobblestone / Lay my bones in neat little rows"). Love 'em or hate 'em, you have to respect Guy Garvey and chums for, yet again, doing it their way.