Band of Clouds have recently released their début album Outside Broadcast. It is the kind of album you want to like but cannot find the motivation. The one you buy, and soon forget. In other words, it is one of great potential, but there is nothing special about it.
It is easy to see what Band of Clouds were trying to achieve with this 11 track album. It has undertones of ambiance teamed with an indie rock feel, somewhere along the lines of Kasabian, maybe even Elbow but with out the ability to grab a listener’s attention. It takes something special to make someone fall in love with an album and that something certainly is not existent in this album. ‘So long bitter root hill’ is a one song worthy of specific mention though. It is a quiet number, so quiet it is barely audible in the beginning. It more closely achieves what the entire album sets out to do than any other track on the album. It is intriguing and emotive until the very last bar plays out, making for a nice song to have on in the background.
Ultimately the album is lackluster, although slight waves of potential shine through at certain points. Perhaps the album was premature, as the band have not been a familiar name on the gigging scene in Dublin, and had they worked on a few EPs and developed a more effective sound, the album would have been a more stimulating album.