Serving as the perfect stepping stone between the harmonious guitar-pop of their first album, In This Sleeping City, and the broader canvas of the forthcoming long player, Photographic Medley, ‘Late To It’ is both fresh and familiar.
Fresh because this is music made with one eye on where the band goes next rather than merely where it is at; familiar because, whilst it is the sound of the band sonically growing, not least through the weaving of steel pedal textures through the heart of the song, it also echoes controlled evolution rather than sudden revolution.
The Goodbye Radio also toys with a broader familiarity, the song echoing those bands who also found the sweet spot between pop and rock, alternative pastures and mainstream acceptance, bands such as Teenage Fanclub, Big Star and even capturing Elliot Smith’s sense of the fragile and lyrically vulnerable along the way.
Guitars jangle and jive, riffs spiral and spill, the beats are unfussy, the basslines gently melodic, and pianos weave and wash through the spaces between, all of which makes for the perfect platform for the vocals to float, never having to battle for space, always dancing deftly over this array of sonic sweetness.
‘Late To It’ has enough rock energy to add some drive to the dexterous arrangements, enough pop guile to make it instantly unforgettable, enough indie chops to keep things cool and just en vogue enough; in short, it is music made to a loose template that has never yet let us down.
If you don’t give this a few spins and don’t come away thinking the new album can’t arrive quickly enough, then perhaps you are just a small part of the reason why people like Ed Sheeran are so rich!
