The Album Club choice for February 2017 comes courtesy of Richard (lovejoy) with Shearwater's 'Rook'.

Please listen to the album in it's entirety before you comment and/or vote.






My second go at the Album Club and sticking with artists that begin with 'S' (let's see if I can keep that going). This is an album that might strike a chord with fans of Talk Talk (the band, not the communications company). The singer Jonathan Meiburg's voice eerily reminiscent of the haunting tones of Mark Hollis and some of the songs here could have easily been sessions from some of the later Talk Talk albums. Rooks is a varied affair however starting with a gentle piano and vocal intro before raising to an almighty rock crescendo before leading into to the title track 'Rooks' which steps more into rock/pop territory. Tempo is up and down from that point and the album never becomes laboured or boring. Anyone familiar with Van Morrison's Veedon Fleece will find track 4 more than a little familiar in the lyrics.

Stand out tracks for me are Rooks, Home Life and The Snow Leopard but the whole album hangs together almost as a concept album.

Spotify link here: https://open.spotify.com/album/3eM6iFsshHr3QnFn0jYCCQ
Tidal link: https://listen.tidal.com/album/2274388

Happy listening