Turin Brakes – 'JackInABox' (Source Records) Released 30/05/2005

 

 

 

After the huge success of their sublime self-produced debut album ‘The Optimist LP’, expectations were high and Turin Brakes had to hit the big time with their second album ‘Ether Song’, and headed to the US for the production talent of Tony Hoffer (Beck/Air/Supergrass).  However it just didn’t fit the bands homegrown nature, and although ‘Ether Song’ delivered some great pop songs, it lacked the purity and wholeness of ‘The Optimist LP’.  So third time around the block, what have Gale and Olly decided to do about it?  Well, they’ve gone back to basics, made their own studio in Brixton, and produced an album of shear brilliance, synonymous with their original innocence, and certain to make you feel thoroughly enlightened.

 

Starting slowly with the laid-back alt-country ‘They cant buy the sunshine’, we drift off into an alt-country wilderness before being slapped round the face and brought back to reality with powerful ‘Red Moon’ as it soars in and out of a tense, moody, but exhilarating tale of love and exile, with Olly screaming “I’m hanging around with you, we’re catching the starlight, underneath the red moon”.  Turin Brakes have not just settled for their usual acoustic harmonies to win over their fans, but have gone a step further as ‘JackInABox’ crafts a wonderful mixture of their trademark acoustic prowess like first single ‘Fishing For A Dream’, to moody numbers like ‘Red Moon’ and ‘Over and Over’, to soulful pop tunes like the sparkling ‘Last Clown’.

 

Song after song ‘JackInABox’ delivers a cluster of emotions – the bewildering love song ‘forever’ sends a tingle down your spine, and the contrasting disco-soul number ‘Asleep with the fireflies’, certainly the most catchy tune on the album, makes you get your disco boots on and dance like an idiot (or is that just me!?).  ‘JackInABox’ really is a breath of fresh air, and definitely one of the soundtracks to the summer.