Peaceful The World Lays Me Down

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Twickenham’s Noah And The Whale name themselves in honour of director Noah Baumbach’s 2005 feature The Squid And The Whale, which feels strangely appropriate: post emJuno/em, no indie flick would quite feel complete without a soundtrack like Peaceful The World Lays Me Down--sensitive, homespun indie-folk that blends the tremulous intimacy of Jeffrey Lewis and Adam Green with an occasional grand breadth reminiscent of the Arcade Fire or some other such act with symphonic tendencies and big ideas. Vocalist Charlie Fink is your emotional guide, his quavering, expectant voice the perfect vehicle to the likes of “5 Atoms In A Molecule” and “Shape Of My Heart”, songs of romantic longing (and in time-honoured indie-flick style, this geek always gets his girl). The girl in question, incidentally, is emLaura Marling/em, the young folk songstress who made her debut with Noah And The Whale before moving on to solo success: her voice is more conventionally strong than Fink’s, adding emotional lift at crucial moments, but even as Fink’s voice wavers, his words swell with resolve. As he sings on the gorgeous “Give A Little Love”, “Life is fleeting/But I love you”.--emLouis Pattison/em

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2009-05-23 rating:
Brilliant
An excellent debut album, dark lyrics picked up by wonderfully upbeat music, easily finds its way into my list of favourite albums. Fans of Laura Marling, Johnny Flynn and Jay Jay Pistolet will enjoy this album.

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review by: colint1234567 date: 2009-01-20 rating:
Forgettable
Like many people, I heard 5 Years Time played over and over again on the radio and really thought that this would be a happy album. I even bought tickets to see them live. br / br /Sadly the album made virtually no impression on me, I just couldn't get into it. It lacks substance and no other song stands out in any way. It was the same at their live gig - the crowd were clearly expecting something more and it's the first time I've ever seen a band walk off in a sulk at the end and the crowd not bother asking for an encore.

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review by: date: 2008-12-07 rating:
Awful
Rarely do I feel quite so let down when I buy an album. Often I feel that I have bought something that wasn't quite worth the money, but to call this album bad would be generous in the extreme. The central concept seems to have been to produce the most twee, saccharin nonsense possible. br / br /I bought this on the strength of good reviews from magazines I usually trust, because I heard it was 'New Folk' (whatever that is!) and a desire for something a bit whimsical. Well, whimsical it is but to the absolute extreme. Everything about it is bad: songwriting is generally poor with little craft, lyrically it is shallow and twee and the performance is no more than adequate. Listening to it I honestly felt moved to nausea by the sickening kitsch of this album. This is to music what poorly-painted porcelain ballerina statuettes are to home furnishing, a set of extraordinarily extravagant swags, tails and pelmets on the curtains of popular music. As for folk, well if this is the way it's going then I give up right now! They're no more than a pub band compared to the real folk scene in this country. 'New Folk' is a total misnomer, 'twee-pop-folk' would be closer to the mark. I can't think of anything even close, Cosmic Rough Riders had a similar approach when they begun but they had a lot more spirit and drive. br / br /I would hate to think that anyone took this as representative of modern British folk! There is so much great folk out there, none of the following are twee and cheesy: Seth Lakeman, Bellowhead, Julie Fowlis, John McCusker, Kris Drever, Eliza McCarthy. Karine Polwart has more class in her little finger. If you want something good in a similar line of gentle guitar/piano music with male and female vocals there are so many better - Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan's Ballad of the Broken Seas, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's Raising Sand, etc, etc. Mind you if you honestly think this is good you would struggle to comprehend such excellence! Utterly, utterly dire!

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review by: date: 2008-11-11 rating:
Better than the single
I feel that the album is actually better overall than the single - tho can only be pleased that the single brought attention. It is a considerable accolade to say that the sound reminds me of one of the best indie bands for many years - Neutral Milk Hotel.


review by: johnnie's mum date: 2008-11-02 rating:
Will still love it in 5 years time
I bought tickets to see them live in Glasgow last week based on hearing 5 years time. Absolutely loved them. Think they are bit of Jonathan Richman meets the Waterboys sound but they were a true delight. Bought the album after seeing them - uplifting, energising and sensitive. Played it constantly. Love it to death! Think the videos are mental but sweet and make me smile.

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