Archive – Controlling Crowds

most of the stuff should not be country "" just because the label was Warner Music . this was available in switzerland too and , so in most of the cases it's EU not

After flirting with indie-rock and polished pop-rock in the mid-'00s with mixed results, Archive spent three years refining and rediscovering their creativity, including reuniting with Rosko John, whose rapping was last heard on the band's debut album over ten years previously. The result is a four-part dystopian concept album, the first three parts of which are found on the first Controlling Crowds album.

Archive always seem to work best after a bit of a creative shake-up, and the huge leap in scale from the somewhat pedestrian Lights has lead to what is probably the group's best album since 1996's Londinium. The darker, gritty sound fits the band like a glove, and is a joy to behold here. With a heavier emphasis on electronics than the past few albums, particularly in the rhythm section, Archive's core duo really get chance to show off their creativity here. With help from co-producer Jerome Devoise, they piece together a tapestry of sound that combines elements of trip-hop, ambient, post-rock and industrial. This harder-edged sound provides a doom-laden backdrop for the bleak and dramatic songs on display here.

Pollard Berrier and Dave Pen front the majority of songs again, and both put in dramatically improved performances and compositions from those found on Lights. If Berrier is still fond of sticking to just one or two notes at times, there are enough beautiful chord changes in the backing this time to compensate. Both singers channel a lot more personality this time, with Berrier putting in a fittingly tense performance on the stunning string-laden single 'Bullets'; Pen's slightly gruffer vocal chords sit brilliantly atop the haunting post-rock chugger 'Kings of Speed'.

All three songs that spotlight Rosko John are excellent. His rapping shares centre-stage with a beautifully understated performance from Berrier on the heartbreaking 'Quiet Time', while the industrial-tinged 'Razed to Ground' is probably the most brutal sounding piece in the band's catalogue to date. His style is happily unchanged since we last heard him on an Archive record, and the anger and energy in his lyrics and performance fit the dystopian record perfectly.

Maria Q gets two songs this time, and one - 'Collapse / Collide' - is quite clearly the strongest here, and must go down as one of the band's classics. At nearly ten minutes long, the track works up from near silence - simply the sound of the album's titular crowds - through Maria's whispered vocals, to a synth- and string-soaked climax, headed by the ionate refrain 'they rejected / they reject our hearts'. It's one of the most overtly dramatic and emotional moments the band have produced, and a better centrepiece could not be wished for. The song itself morphs into a euphoric coda in the form of Berrier's 'Clones'. Maria Q's other lead vocal is on the bluesy 'Whore', which, other than some fine production touches at the end, would fit in considerably better on one of the group's poppier albums. It's a shame the song is done a disservice here, as it shows off Q's soulful voice well.

These are merely highlights: in truth, there is not a single song I dislike on the album. Yes, 'Whore' is out of place, 'Dangervisit' is a touch overlong, and it would be nice to have a song or two more by Dave Pen. But these are all small points, really. Against the odds, Archive manage to fill the best part of 80 minutes with the most beautiful, dramatic, and possibly the most satisfying music of their career to date. A superb album.

Undoubtedly one of the best albums of the 2000s. The intro is outstanding!