I’m going to be frankly honest by saying that Noah and the Whale have never been one of my favourite bands. When I first heard “5 Years Time”, I thought it sounded childish and I couldn’t see what the fuss was about. Fuss there was, there’s no denying it. It was released in 2007 and its peak position was no. 7 on the UK Official Top 40. Not bad for a student band who had just started out in the business. Gradually though, I started to meet people who were not just keen, but proper fans, as though somehow the music had really touched them. The more hype there was surrounding the band, the more intrigued I became and it wasn’t until a close acquaintance became involved in their latest film project, The First Days of Spring, that I really began to take interest.
On a fine crisp March evening, I was invited to their concert and it is then that it struck me how talented the boys were and how many people in the audience were bewitched by their performances. For a group of public school students straight out of Manchester University, the music was truly enjoyable and the group is undoubtedly talented. Charlie Fink’s voice is gorgeous, full of devotion and one really believes every word he says. The violin arrangements which accompany the songs are filled with sentiment and help heighten the helpless yet hopeful tone of the music, which really does take you on a journey. It’s fair to say that I will never have them listed as my favourite band, but having given them a proper listen and heard them live, if you're into your indie folk rock stuff, then Noah and the Whale is exactly what you want to listen to.
The new album, the First Days of Spring, released just Monday is spectacular and it’s clear the band has evolved. A full on choir makes an appearance as well as more grandiose vocals from Fink and more depth to the music in general. Critics all round have given it praise, with only slight criticism referring to the lyrics as “wall to wall with clichés” such as by Dorian Lynksey of the Guardian five days ago. Life is full of clichés though, so inevitably music will have some too. Looking back at Dylan sometimes, I even can’t help but think some of his music is “cliché”. In defence of the band, I will say that the lyrics are, at least, real, with Fink talking us through the hopes following traumatic heartbreak, relating to his failed romance with ex-NaTW singer Laura Marling.
Along with the new album, the band decided, due to their thorough interest in cinema, to accompany it with a short 45 min film which consists of every soundtrack on the album and a few dialogues. As enchanting as the album itself, this precious film, directed by Charlie Fink and produced by Olivier Kaempfer of Parkville Pictures, is a gem. From start to finish, the viewer is left captivated, marvelling at the superb scenery shot with grace and subtlety. The tone of the movie is somewhat nostalgic, centred on a man whose one true love has died (played by It girl and model Daisy Lowe), post rupture, at the early stages of his adult life. It shows us how he spends the rest of his life mourning her loss, first as an adult in an unhappy marriage, and then as an old man wanting to end his life. It is thus deeply moving, very touching, showing the development of a man who never managed to escape the chains of love and was thus never able to fulfil a life. The film capsizes from these three periods in his life, showing flashbacks of his past happiness with the girl he adored to present moments of loss and insanity to final stages of his incomplete existence where the theme of death becomes most prominent. The scenes of the English countryside and expansive lakes shot with the morning dew, overwhelming sunshine or cascading raindrops, are breathtaking and so very apt to the soft sounds of Charlie Fink’s vocals and the band’s solitary guitars and background of strings. This simply beautiful film makes the folk-pop music come alive, bringing the lead’s singer pain of lost romance to life. A movie for “anyone with a broken heart”, and more.
“First Days of Spring”- available now on ITunes.
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