And I went away, now there's every sign that I'm wired again.

Look at you with slimmer lines
Dirty toes un-showered
Unholy sight the state of you
And every sign that you’re wired again

So I stopped writing.

I don't know why, maybe lack of time SLASH confidence in my ability to write about something I didn't do a degree in? I'm not sure, but as I sat drinking tea this morning and listening to The Maccabees new album with my eyes closed (Yeh, I can drink tea with my eyes closed) I knew I had to do what I used to do until last September.... Sit and listen to an album over and over then pick out my favourite lyrics and sounds and write about them on here. And then post it all over Facebook and get laughed/criticised by the people I really should have unfriended about 5 years ago! :)

Ok so here goes, The Maccabees third album.. It is always a slight worry with a third album isn't it?You question whether a band/artist has had enough time/continued with the same vibe as last time/pushed the boundaries and tried something new. Will it be a success/will it not/will I like it/please let me like it. So if I give you an example of the good the bad and the oh shit why moments, then you can work out for yourself  without me having to be nasty and critical.

Example 1.

The Strokes gave us "This is it", Blur gave us "Parklife" AND Arctic Monkeys gave us.............. "Humbug". (Sigh........ Enough said? I think so.)

As a HUGE and probably over biased fan of The Maccabees, you can probably guess I didn't have a Humbug moment when I eagerly typed the tracklist of their new album "Given to the Wild" into youtube, staring, dare I say, slightly sycophantically at the screen as I long for the next time I get to see them on stage. They have that power though don't you think? The power of turning a rainy train ride to work into a feeling like you're going to Disneyland! No, erm, not Disneyland, I meant some dead cool bar where you go to smoke and read poetry, yeh... that's what I meant. 

Anyway its an exciting time, this new album like the last seems to be pushing those "wall of arms" boundaries they talk of in the last album even further away. If I think back to 2005, me being 16 at the time, they have come a long long way from what could sort of be described as a quite channelled and controlled time of the Indie-pop era. Then they were all bright colours and lyrics of love, now they're all about ferocious guitars and unruly drumming that creates passionate melodies and quite heart-wrenching lyrics.

So why such a long time between albums? Well from what I have read they have spent a lot of time in Rockfield Studios (Wales), worldly known to be home to some of the greatest songs ever written. From Rush in the 70's, Adam and the ants, The Stranglers and The Undertones in the 80's and New Order and Delphic through the 90's and 2000's. The Maccabees can now safely join the successors of such great music with their latest album. I would comment that it has been such a long time because of their obsession with detail and and exploration of what sounds rewarding to them. 

"It's a long process, it can get pretty clinical, so it takes a long time to make not very much music". Felix then continues,"This time around it feels like we're ready to go out and play live again. We've got a record we feel deserves it"

Well, I completely agree.

And so forth with my ramblings I won't say anything more and will post some teasing songs that should get you as excited for the release date of January 24th as I am. Enjoy!

FiftysAtHeart. x

Ps. Message me on Facebook (Grace Easter) with any new music, always appreciated. Over the next week I'll be writing about The Jezabels, Oliver Tank, Willis Earl Beal, M83, Grimes and Azealia Banks. Oh and maybe Lana Del Ray, haven't made my mind up on her yet! :)

"Feel to Follow"

"Pelican"

"Child"