English music album review

Forth
The Verve
It's almost hard to believe that in nearly two decades, Forth is only The Verve's fourth album. Haven't these guys been around forever? Or so you'd think. For those who don't know, the band split up for a few years and only reunited in 2007.

Fans of indie masterpiece Urban Hymns won't be disappointed. Eight years may have passed, but the band's sound remains virtually unchanged. Most especially on eighth track Valium Skies, which bears a striking resemblance to Bittersweet Symphony.

As would be expected there's the usual anthems, including opener Sit and Wonder and first single Love Is Noise. Mostly the album's filled with a mix of indie, Britpop and progressive soul type tunes. And it works together so well that at the end of the first listen, I didn't even care that The Verve had been away for long.

All that matters is that they're back. And while we're speaking from the heart here, let's just be completely honest about another thing. Despite all I wrote above, The Verve's Forth didn't really need a review. This album's going to sell itself.