“It’s been a long time coming” coos Nellie McKay on double album Pretty Little Head and you have to admire her honesty. Let’s face facts: after three release dates for this follow up to 2004’s Get Away From Me had come and gone, you’d have been forgiven for giving up on her.
The convenient comparison is to fall in line and describe Levy as a cross between The Smiths and Coldplay but the reality is more like a coherent version of The Libertines.
Sing-Sing is not quite the musical equivalent of prison, but it
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: yes, the half-Italian, half-icelandic Emiliana Torrini sounds like Bjork. Just without the squeaking. Or high pitched sounds there for the benefit of dogs and – yes! – music critics. But hold on a minute, there surely can be room for both singers in this ever crowded world where, like London buses, you wait ages for one and then, well, two come along jostling for passengers? And if that doesn’t mix your metaphors, then who knows what will?
X&Y is by no means perfect. The specter of U2 looms large throughout and Martin’s turn of phrase isn’t quite what it once was.
