The last time we met Elbow, lead singer Guy Garvey was nursing a broken heart, and the result was their finest album yet in Leaders Of The Free World. A downbeat masterpiece, it enhanced Garvey's reputation as one of the finest lyricists of his generation.
For Grounds For Divorce, they've not exactly lightened up, but they have become extremely loud. "I've been working on a cocktail called grounds for divorce" bellows Garvey before a huge, clanking, almost industrial soundscape crashes in. "They rock" may not be a term you associate with Elbow, but in this instance it's very appropriate.
And as ever with Elbow, the lyrics deserve a review of their own - a beautifully descriptive account of an alcoholic father, drinking to his "seldom seen kid" and taking in the various unsightly attractions of his local pub: the "whispering of jokers", "little town whores" and "twisted karaoke" and so on.
There's also a nice twist at the end where it's revealed that the 'seldom seem kid' is doomed to follow in his father's footsteps in the line "someday we'll be drinking with the seldom seen kid". A typical slice of Elbow magic.
share: 
