Elbow

Main
Albums / Singles
Articles

Complex, beautiful and - you'd wager - capable of making even Vinnie Jones weep uncontrollably, Elbow mine a boozy seam of introspection comparable to Radiohead and Coldplay. Having formed in their native Bury at the start of the 1990s, the band (vocalist Guy Garvey, drummer Richard Jupp, organist Craig Potter, guitarist Mark Potter and bassist Pete Turner ) signed to Island in 1998,only to be dropped, eventually releasing their first two EPs (Newborn and Any Day Now) on Manchester micro-label Ugly Man. Having gained the attention of V2, the band made up for lost time with 2001's debut album Asleep In The Back, a masterclass of moody atmospherics and great songwriting suggestive of everyone from John Martyn to Spiritualised. Characterising their sound with typical deadpan humour as "prog without the solos", follow up A Cast Of Thousands was even more assured, attracting an army of celebrity fans including Chris Martin, who identifies the album as a central influence on Coldplay's X&Y.
2008's The Seldom Seen Kid was the band's fourth and most triumphant album, which scooped the Nationwide Mercury Prize and had the quintet describing it as the best thing that's ever happened to them. Talented and lovely fellas too.