New Lamb album "5" - but how are they doing?

And out danced lamb from our CD collections in 2004. And in they danced again in May 2011 - proving the last couple of years to be a bit of a trip-hop revival (or not, as many of the albums have proven)(and besides, with the economic climate at the moment, can you blame them?).
So here come Lamb with their album "5".

Ohhh, pulling the wool over their eyes, lamb, wool comes from sheep, it's a joke! I get it!

I'm going to admit it right now, I don't have the album yet, since I was only made aware of it about half an hour ago. Yes, I know what you're thinking; "Fucking bloggers, listen to the damn music first and THEN blog". Well, the review (if there is one) of the actual album will come later. But for now, I'm just writing about the background.


So back they come, with some revelations for me.
They reported themselves to be unhappy with the direction of albums after their debut, the ever-lush eponymous album. Commercialization and whatnot. I'm not 100% sure I felt it personally, since I thought the album "Fear of Fives" was pretty experimental, but apparently not enough for our heroic duo.


So this is, they report what should have been their second album. Whether they are right will be decided by yours truly at a later date.
But they sound great, from what I've seen, and seem incredibly enthusiastic. I quote Lou Rhodes (more on her later) with the following: 

"In late Summer 2010 Andy and I were talking on the phone; just catching up and chewing the fat. He was just preparing to release his debut LOWB album and i’d just completed a tour of Europe promoting my 3rd solo album. Andy was saying how he missed so much of what Lamb had been about and that he felt the time was right to make another Lamb album. When he said to me: “Lou, give me one good reason why we shouldn’t make another album” I  really couldn’t think of one. He was right, the time did feel right.

So after all this time we’ve been back in the studio and have written, recorded, mixed and released our new album ’5′. There’s something fresh and new about the album. It hasn’t been this way since we wrote and recorded the eponymous first album when we felt utterly unconcerned with what anyone felt about what we were doing. It was about the music and the journey it took us on. We always said we wouldn’t make another Lamb album until we had something new to say. That time has definitely come."

And it's showing. I'm just going to throw this picture out there.

Mmmmmmmmmm.

Now, I'm not shallow and this isn't a fashion/gossip blog. But they both look fantastic, especially compared to Portishead. Yes, I know that Beth Gibbons is older, but Lou Rhodes has had 2 kids, and that frankly makes her a MILF. And if he beefed up and wore some trendy gear Andy Barlow could be modelling for Abercrombie and Fitch's "Hollister" clothing line.

I've listened to the first track and a couple of others in part, and so far I'm optimistic for the album. I'm sure that I'll drop a word or two about it at some point - stay tuned.