THE BEACH

Is it me or is every bloody male singer possessed of a wavering pair of tonsils a la Sam Smith or Ed Sheeran at the moment? Thankfully this mysterious Londoner doesn't venture too far into bed-wetting territory with Thieves, but does have one hand stroking earnest songwriter's chin whilst positioning other hand firmly across brow in hard-bitten sad-face storyline drama. Thieves is by turns quiet and elegiac, loud and preposterous, echoey, eerie, atmospheric, harmonious, great, crap and a sure-fire hit. Eventually. It has everything a modern music could possibly wish for including epic strings, a faster-paced hoe-down bit (I half expect Emeli Sande to chirrup at this point) and then another quiet section during which fans bored with Tom Odell or Passenger will gleefully tell you that The Beach is/are the next big thing.

This review also appeared on Flipside Reviews

Paul PLEDGER
17/03/2015