London Grammar – If You Wait 8/10

Columbia Records

When London Grammar’s wonderful “Metal and Dust EP” was released just a few short months ago, it was clear that they possessed the talent to create a worthy follow up debut LP. Without any further ado, with their first full length album, If You Wait, they have done just that, and in the process, have broken out of the UK and shown that they can make an impact in the American market like some of their notable British contemporaries to whom they have been compared to (partly no doubt to their feature “Help Me Lose My Mind”, the last single off of Disclosure’s extremely popular and quality album Settle”.

It is a remarkable achievement that vocalist Hannah Reid, producer Dot Major and Don Rothman have crafted such a cohesive and consistent project considering that they started making music together less than a year ago. The album never strays from the lonely glacial production and contrasting warmth of Reid’s vocals (which have been compared to fellow Brits Florence and The Machine and Jessie Ware). The opening track, “Hey Now”, the slowly building standout from their EP serves as a perfect introduction, where the angelic voice over an xx like minimalist backdrop of a snare and muted guitars provides a much more satisfying climax than any of the xx’s tracks do.

Loneliness seems to be central theme of the album, as tracks such as “Shyer”, in which Reid tells us how much more timid she is feeling, and “Wasting My Young Years”, in which she is fearful that she is wasting the time that is meant to be the best of her life. Through the build -up of these two tracks however, and the payoff when it all comes together, they come off as sounding courageous. She does not accept what she is saying, she is rebelling against it. Surprisingly, one of the standout of If You Wait For Me is a cover of the excellent Kavinsky and Lovefoxx’s “Nightcall”. Once again stripped down to essentials, including a rolling piano loop to replace the original synth, it becomes a beautifully haunting version of the slick electro pop track. They do what great bands do when they cover a song; they don’t cover it, they reinvent it.

While the rest of the album, including the EP track “Metal and Dust” and the slow rolling gorgeous finale “If You Wait” fit together like a cog in a wheel, if one criticism is that it doesn’t take you anywhere unexpected. While the homogeneous feel of the songs help create a sonic sound scape that puts the listener at ease, If You Wait sometimes feels a little safe. This being said however, creating an album that feels well put together rather than a compilation of loose tracks is a very difficult thing to succeed at, and this is something that London Grammar has done masterfully. We should all expect even better music to come from them.