Three years after their Top 10 album ‘Red’ and just one year on from Fyfe Dangerfield’s first solo effort, Birmingham quartet the Guillemots are back with their latest offering ‘Walk The River’. After failing to claim the Mercury Prize back in 2006 for their debut ‘Through the Windowpane’ – sadly losing out to predictable winners Arctic Monkeys – and gaining only commercial recognition for ‘Red’, are Guillemots hitting back with a vengeance for their third album? Also, after the uplifting and atmospheric indie-pop of ‘Through the Windowpane’ and the experimental and often weird ‘Red’, what have the four-piece got in store for us this time around? And even more importantly, following the success of his far more modest solo record ‘Fly Yellow Moon’, will frontman Fyfe Dangerfield be bringing any of his new-found experiences with him on his return to the group?
Getting proceedings off to an abrupt start with the album’s title track, things are already feeling quite different compared with the band’s last outing together. The psychedelic pop of ‘Walk The River’ makes for a powerful yet mellow intro to what is already appearing to take the shape of Guillemots’ most warm work to date. The following track ‘Vermillion’, though different, seems to follow a similar theme with an experimental folk/country sound that could almost be described as a post-rock Simon and Garfunkel.
While Guillemots’ previous work has never strayed too far from the poppier side of things, ‘Walk The River’ seems to take that much further and could easily be described as the group’s most widely-appealing record to date. However, that isn’t to say that this is in any way an ordinary or tame release. While just steering clear of the far-out style that made ‘Red’ so popular, ‘Walk the River’ still manages to maintain some of the inventiveness of that album and also taking the time to return to the optimistic and enriching ambience of their debut.
As the album’s lead single, ‘The Basket’ is probably the most lively track to be found here, adding a gloriously effervescent indie-rock feel to the texture of ‘Walk the River’ as a body of work. What Guillemots have done this time around is to create a quirky pop record to add to their already fascinating musical repertoire. With the summer approaching mercifully fast, ‘Walk The River’ has arrived at just the right time. Whether the band will appreciate the sentiment or not, expect to hear this one as the soundtrack to many a barbecue or summer party. Not their most adventurous release to date, maybe, but certainly one of their most universally-appealing. An album of the summer for sure.
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While Guillemots’ previous work has never strayed too far from the poppier side of things, ‘Walk The River’ seems to take that much further and could easily be described as the group’s most widely-appealing record to date. However, that isn’t to say that this is in any way an ordinary or tame release. While just steering clear of the far-out style that made ‘Red’ so popular, ‘Walk the River’ still manages to maintain some of the inventiveness of that album and also taking the time to return to the optimistic and enriching ambience of their debut. 
