Broken Records
Until The Earth Begins To Part
4AD / Playground

Until The Earth Begins To Part is the Scottish seven piece indie folk-rock band Broken Records' debut album. And it surely is a debut to remember.

Over the last years, since their forming in late 2006, there has been spoken about Broken Records resemblance to Canadian Arcade Fire. A comparison that is very understandable, but also a bit unfair. Yet they travel in somewhat similar soundscapes, Broken Records is a whole lot more than replications. There is a distinct Scottish touch in the sound. Represented by a stirring (non-)harmonic motion, generated by the particular use of violin, cello and accordion. And an underlying whisfullness.

Until The Earth Begins To Part opens with the melancholically disturbed-ness of "Nearly Home", a tune that brings forward the wistful sensation of centuries long gone. And this sensation lingers throughout the album, with the minor exception for the more purely folkish tracks "If Eilert Loevberg Wrote A Song, It Would Sound Like This" and "A Good Reason". The first the happiest tune on the album, and the latter an slightly angrier piece of danceable-rock.

But above all, Until The The Earth Begins To Part is a breathtakingly romantic album. And I don't mean it in the sweet pink version of the word, but in the demanding and longing sense of forever after. Like on the beautiful string-based ballad "Ghosts", or the astonishing title track with it's brass-accompanied insisting pray for eternal love.

And when the final track "Slow Parade" fades out, I really believe that a little heartache can be worth it. When the ending is as beautiful as this.

Copyright © 2009 Aslaug O Klausen