Label: Island/Universal
Review by Warren Mayocchi
Never heard of Eliot Sumner before pressing play on this album. Two things are immediately striking about “Information”. The first is the album cover, it resembles the style of the artwork of the recent Marilyn Manson album, “Pale Emperor”. In fact the same photographer created both album covers. The second striking thing is the voice of Eliot Sumner. There is intensity, strength and confidence. And this is a distinctive voice, immediately I wonder about the similarity to Sting. Eliot Sumner is his child, but the voice is not the same, it is deeper in tone. With the obvious out of the way, what can you expect from Eliot Sumner? Synth rock in the style of Muse or The Killers would be a good starting reference point. Mix in a punk attitude, good songwriting and the unique vocals. Here is an album to immediately catch the attention of your ears. There is a dark insistent beat to the songs. Quite a few of them have music videos so it is easy to sample the music of “Information”. All of the instruments are played well, but I particularly love the keyboards in these songs. They launch from the driving beat and add a moody layer that becomes obvious when subdued or absent. Lyrically, there are a few the chorus passages that border on annoying, but the verses are always excellent. And the majority of songs get everything right. Particularly great are “Let My Love Lie On Your Life”, “Information” and “After Dark”. In addition to the songs with strong synth playing, there are a few straight up guitar led tracks. The best of the these is “Halfway to Hell” beginning with a solid crunch leading to a brilliant vocal delivery. This is an amazing album with some truly brilliant songs. The keyboards are an absolute delight and Eliot Sumner has an incredibly distinctive voice. There are a few things that could be improved, but turn the lights down, put this record on and party! You won’t notice anything amiss amongst the fun. To me, this sounds like the beginning of the legend of Eliot Sumner.
Rating – 85/100
Tracklist
- Dead Arms & Dead Legs
- Information
- Let My Love Lie On Your Life
- After Dark
- Halfway to Hell
- I Followed You Home
- What Good Could Ever Come of This
- Come Friday
- Firewood
- Say Anything You Want
- Species
- In Real Life