Biffy Clyro – Ellipsis
A month before the release of their seventh studio album, Scotland's Biffy Clyro (read: bifi klairou) played at Prague's Lucerna. The unsold-out concert was not only full of energy and decent musicianship, but it was also a presentation of several songs from the latest album Ellipsis. In fact, the band released some tasters from Ellipsis (7/2016) many months in advance.
There has been a lot of talk about Biffy Clyro over the past three years, and mostly in superlatives. The band's image works as well as its dense, skillfully arranged music. The Johnston brothers (James - bass, Ben - drums) and Simon Neil (guitar, vocals) form a trio that meets the current requirements for a band that should be able to fill stadiums. Already on the previous successful double album Opposites (2013), the Scots made sure that some songs contained karaoke motifs (e.g. the opening Captain) to encourage the audience to do choral creations. There are even more such attempts on the most recent album so far, which somewhat knocks down an otherwise sympathetic effort at creating distinctive melodic progressions. This is more evident in the arching harmonies, which make use of layering and multiplication of instrumentation with a distinctive chorus (Wolves of Winter, Don't Wont, Can't). It's almost a little kitschier on more sparingly conceived stuff, like Re-arrange, where the warning against over-sweetening is the pop-like arrangement of digital rhythmic claps. Coldplay would certainly not be ashamed of the pop song used. Among the successful compositions is certainly Animal Style, which together with the opening track forms the backbone of the first part of the album. The interesting breakdown of the chorus passage confirms the band's ambition to soon compile a concert set list of all hit songs. Flammable and the more predatory On a Bang also adorn the distinctive, singable choruses. The folk-instrumented Small Wishes, with its sensitively constructed vocal line, lets the pleasing timbre of Neil's voice shine through. The dramatic pathos embedded in the lyrics of People sounds a little overdone even considering the lyrics. A bit unnecessary is the reminiscence of the boring Different People, the title track of the second Opposites CD. In the Name of the Wee Man is a worthy end to an inventive and fine album. If it has so far been impossible to trace anything Scottish by external features such as accent, the typically Scottish word "wee" (tiny) suggests that the performers are boys from the north of the UK.
Biffy Clyro have gradually worked their way up to a level just below Muse, Foo Fighters or Coldplay with their albums. Their latest release shows a clear effort to create hits. The band is in great shape and the album is basically without a significant flaw. This is despite Simon Neil's considerable mental difficulties, lasting many weeks, which have resulted in his long-term creative impotence. Wolves of Winter, Animal Style, Small Wishes and In the Name of the Wee Man are certainly worthy of note. On their next visit to the Czech Republic, Biffy Clyro could sell out the Vršovice Eden.