Manchester England is a place that really does have a unique sound to it and WU LYF add to that in Go Tell Fire To The Mountain. Recorded in an abandoned church this quartet deliver a debut that is both mysterious yet intriguingly beautiful.
Opening track LYF begins with an organ leading us into a harmonic, gentle, and relaxing entrance. The bass and lead guitars kick off softly before the volume lifts creeping into the surprise that is lead singer Ellery Robert’s voice. At first it does sound odd, but as the track goes on one may recognize that although this sounds dirty and uneducated it is rather unique “I will love you forever, forever, forever!” he sings and you can almost feel it as what sounds like a struggle at first becomes comfortable and almost sets the tone for what follows.
If LYF was an opening statement what followed could be described as triumphant as the drums belt out into a marching beat. It was like an army going into battle not knowing what they would face next or what force they would encounter and this is exactly where this album goes, it keeps you guessing, enticing a surprise all the while keeping you on your toes ensuring you avoid missing something you shouldn’t have.
The nucleus of WU LYF’s sound pays homage to their fondness of allowing their instruments to be played with an honest yet respectable manner and keeping it simple. They may not technically experiment too much, but the way in which they have constructed their sound on the basis of these principles shows the maturity of a band that sound like they have done this before. Yet they have not.
There are some really beautiful tracks on Go Tell Fire To The Mountains, Summas Bliss in particular and Concrete Gold are stand outs with the latter a track in which Roberts pours his heart into and given that his voice, is, at times very hard to understand when one can make out and put together the lyrics they do make sense thus ensuring the song, as with all of them on this album have some sort of reasoning. They are simple and effective and make a point - if you can make it out. The song itself wandered in different tangents and directions fluctuating to Roberts howls of pain as he describes his nightmares and fear of sleeping to avoid them.
Go Tell It To The Mountains is an impressive first effort. It is euphoric but at times very dark. It is well compiled and runs through ten tracks over 47 minutes. WU LYF compliment each other well and one can tell they are a tight and engaging outfit. Reading through the sleeve of lyrics I read of a lot of frustration and misunderstanding thus being elements that give the album the emotion that it thrives on, their passion is overwhelming throughout as it is evident that WU LYF possess an aggressiveness that compliments the above traits.
