Despite acres of press coverage and a Mercury Prize nomination, you'd be hard-pressed to pick any member of Elbow out of a police line-up - rather bizarre since, as their second album confirms, they're currently one of the most accomplished indie bands around. Epic, windswept and relentlessly downbeat, their songs evoke a kind of dour miserabilism that's unmistakably Mancunian in origin. Best not to wonder what makes singer Guy Garvey so terminally disaffected, since his spleen-filled lyrics are more than a little on the vague side. Just appreciate the glorious sound his band are capable of whipping up - lush swathes of bittersweet guitars, augmented by angelic gospel choirs and Spector-like string orchestras. Cast Of Thousands is the sound of a band driven by heady self-confidence - and the result is a glorious hymn to sadness that deserves all the acclaim it will surely get.
