So, after the great - and in many ways, unprecedented - success of their previous album, where do The Boxer Rebellion go? In some respects, The Boxer Rebellion are in an enviable position: without the burden of label pressure, they're at liberty to steer their sound in any direction they so please. But, conversely, without anyone's funding but their own, would it not be ill-advised to undo the years of graft that have got them where they are?
Listening to 'The Cold Still', it would appear that they've weighed things up and decided to give the fans what they want. There's certainly nothing on here that will shock or offend anyone's sensibilities. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with that, and with 'The Cold Still', they've delivered an album that's solid, assured... but ultimately safe.
'No Harm' gets things going at a sedate pace and builds a rich and emotive atmosphere, drifting gracefully over a sedate heartbeat floor tom before 'Step Out of the Car' picks up the pace, and delivers with more urgency.
Something about 'Cause for Alarm' reminds me of Crowded House - but then it also reminds me of a number of other bands. The same is true of the jangly yet solid 'The Runner', about which there is more than a hint of REM - and perhaps it's herein that the band's appeal lies. 'Memo' is sweeping, panoramic and epic, but again, is reminiscent in sound and scope to a number of other bands past and present - especially present. To say that it's merely generic would be an injustice, but there are hints of Doves, The Verve, The National all stirred into the compositional recipe. The fact that every track - every moment of every track - on the album imbues it with an immediately familiar feel, even on hearing it for the first time. It doesn't break any new ground, it isn't even all that inspired, with the second half drifting into the realms of the dull albeit with panoramic production - and yet at the same time, feels right, companionable, like an old friend.
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As the sparsely melancholic 'Doubt' fades into the darkness, I feel a strange sense of deja vu. Yes, it's cold, but also rather comforting.
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