Album review: British Sea Power - Valhalla Dancehall

British Sea Power - Valhalla Dancehall

British Sea Power are a band that have, broadly speaking, passed me by. This is actually in spite of the fact that I own at least one of their albums (The Decline of British Sea Power, I believe) - a record which I'm not sure I can remember ever having listened to.

So, I confess to knowing very little about them, apart from the fact that their last 'proper' album, Do You Like Rock Music? was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize a couple of years ago.

So, I approached Valhalla Dancehall with only my preconceptions to guide me. The Guardian says the album "stakes out as-yet unclaimed territory between the wide-eyed indie wonder of bands such as the Flaming Lips and the Manic Street Preachers" and that seems a reasonable assessment. I expected Valhalla Dancehall to be spikier and more aggressive than it actually is - indeed there are times when the band's addition of lush orchestration make it quite soft and gentle.

There are loud, bombastic moments - opening track Who's In Control? yells "over here, over there, over here, every f***ing where" - but I like it when the band rein themselves in a bit. Georgie Ray is reminiscent of Mercury Rev at their most melodic whilst Cleaning Out The Rooms is a lovely sweeping seven minute slice of Arcade Fire-esque indie pop.

I have listened to Valhalla Dancehall three times now and, whilst it's not a record I love, it's certainly a record that changed my opinion of who British Sea Power are (and what they do) for the better.