I’m Beth – I blog at bethanyworrall.com. But today I’ve been allowed to take over Rebecca’s blog – as she’s off to Leeds Festival we thought I should write a little review of The Courteeners new album, Concrete Love (They’re playing there, duh).
If this is the first you’ve heard of The Courteeners then we can’t be friends… no seriously. I could write a whole post on how much I love this band and how the first time I saw them in 2009 at Liverpool University changed my life, but I’ll save that one for another day. Or maybe never as nobody would want to fall asleep whilst reading a blog post, would they?
Concrete Love is the 4th Album from The Courteeners and was released on Monday (18th August 2014). I got my hands on my 13232 copies on Saturday as I pre-ordered a CD and Vinyl. I then bought another copy on iTunes on Monday – Love them. Concrete Love was written by frontman Liam Fray whilst in Paris. In my opinion, it’s a bit of a weird destination but I’m glad it was Paris as the inspiration has created some amazing tracks. I think the sound is completely different to the previous three albums which is what I love about these guys. Each album is different, it’s exciting.
The two singles released before Concrete Love were Summer and How Good It Was. Summer was released at the perfect time in June, and has been my track of the Summer. How Good It Was wasn’t long after and the buzz for the release of Concrete Love was huge. These tunes are St Jude’s Fallowfield Hillbilly and I envy those going to Reading/Leeds to see these live.
Small Bones has received a lot of loving via Twitter and Instagram with good reason. I think the lyrics are beautiful, which is also the case for Beautiful Head, Dreamers and Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet. I genuinely don’t think there is a bad track on this album, where a with past albums I’d be able to pick a song I just didn’t like. I’ve been listening to the album 24/7 since Saturday, in the car, on the train, even at work. I’m finding it hard to choose my favourite track, but at the moment I’d have to say International.
I love going to Courteeners gigs and screaming along to the lyrics whilst jumping up and down like a maniac. But I equally love those where everyone stands and sings in unison. I think Concrete Love is a perfect balance between two and whilst I think people expecting old school Courteeners will be disappointed, Concrete Loves proves the boys can step up and create an album with wider appeal.
If you give this a listen, please let me know what you think – it’s a grower, trust me.
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