Given To The Wild

For me, in the flood of UK indie music, The Maccabees used to be just a band to look out for, but nothing more. Sadly, they never stood out, and Young Lions was their only song I really liked. But that might have been all my fault.

However, Given To The Wild is a complete game-changer. It's definitely a step up from their previous records, whatever you think about them. They certainly weren't afraid of pushing their sound, not unlike The Horrors or Arcade Fire. And yes, by reinventing I mean adding up synths, a move that every indie rock band has to undergo come their third album. But nonetheless, in this case, it feels like a very natural progression. It doesn't distract at all and helped them to achieve even greater heights. In a way, the album is like ogres, it has layers, and it's fun to discover them all. Pelican is  the only faster song on the record, the other flow rather slowly, but are all equally atmospheric and captivating, reminding me of Raised By Swans a bit.

To sum it up, Given To The Wild may be this years first truly great album and you shouldn't miss it by any means.