Way back in the early Nineties, this Brit band brought us a new music subgenre called Brit Pop. A lot of groups like Blur, Oasis and Pulp followed suit but by the end of the decade Brit Pop had fallen out of favour. The band then took a break for about seven years and they are now back espousing the value of Brit Pop with their strong album, Night Thoughts. It is still guitar based but this is a more modern sounding Brit Pop. Lyrically, they have also matured with a lot of their songs concerned with topics like love, death, the uncertainty of life and other worrying subjects that keep them awake at night rather than earlier stuff about sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. Make no mistake, this album rocks. Though there are plenty of little classy touches like for every reverb-y guitar sound there are also some lovely string arrangements. Lead singer Brett Anderson is like any good virtuoso using his voice to tell the stories. Making his voice vulnerable when required or filled with a sort of fear when needed. “I Don’t Know How to Reach You” is a song in which his voice is very flexible and he has rarely sounded better.
