Warnings/Promises - Idlewild

As Scotland's finest export, one would think that Idlewild would get the same kind of treatment bestowed to lesser talents like Coldplay, Snow Patrol and Keane. Troubling then, that the band's U.S. devotees have been left with no choice but to buy the band's last few records on import when faced with the promise of a six-month Stateside release delay. That complaint aside, Idlewild's fourth studio album Warnings/Promises is superb. As consistently good as the outfit's 2001 breakthrough 100 Broken Windows and 2003's more mature-feeling follow-up Remote Part, the band feels even more adventurous this time out. Expanding their reach, Roddy Woomble and Company ditch nearly all of their punk leanings (save for the hard-charging "I Want a Warning") but still retain their edge as the unique pulse of "The Space Between All Things" exhibits. Set in motion by a stadium-ready anthem "Love Steals Us From Loneliness," Woomble sings it superbly and finds himself accompanied by a wall of swooning guitars. But beneath what's expected -- like the warm near-ballad "Welcome Home," which clearly deserves the airwaves -- it is musical magic like "El Capitan," with its gorgeous, piano-steered melody and memorable hook that captures hearts while unveiling Idlewild's credo. As Woomble encourages us to "Stand up and stand out" amid the song's glorious refrain, his band has already done it, not just on these eleven tunes (twelve if you count the hidden, unlisted track) but in almost everything they've done since they rose to prominence. Doing things their way may have kept them out of the limelight until now, but it's only a matter of time. To steal a line from the liner notes of Remote Part -- support your local poet. Get this album by any means necessary. ~ John D. Luerssen, All Music Guide