Album of the Day
The Blue Hour
Brit-pop leading lights The London Suede made one of the most welcome comebacks in recent memory when they returned from a near-decade recording hiatus in 2013, and THE BLUE HOUR completes a triptych of albums made since their reunion. It's the band's first collaboration with producer Alan Moulder, whose name can be found on some of the most iconic shoegazing records of the 1990s, and while the new set is short on hazy guitar feedback, it brims with atmosphere. The 14 originals incorporate choir and orchestral arrangements as well as spoken word sections to add an art-rock romanticism to the quintet's sound; singles include “The Invisibles,” “Don't Be Afraid If Nobody Loves You” and “Life Is Golden.” The London Suede's most successful album on the U.K. charts since 1999's HEAD MUSIC, the adventurous THE BLUE HOUR further burnishes a great band's legacy.