(Geffen) www.geffen.com

Seasoned musicians who know how to make a grown man openly weep, the UK’s Elbow continue their sonic charms with the release of their fourth album. Sheer poetry on the page, singer/songwriter Guy Garvey’s lyrics artfully address common topics such as love and relationships, and unlike 2005s Leaders of the Free World, he is no longer lamenting. Opening track “Starlings” greets listeners with quiet cymbals, soft background vocals and trickling keyboards when it suddenly explodes with horns for five seconds, making the otherwise somber track come alive, quite similar to the lyrics. Garvey vocalizes his new found love as he gracefully sings, “The violets explode inside me when I meet your eyes/Then I'm spinning and I'm diving like a cloud of starlings.” Beauty graces Elbow’s new release from the first track to last and will not disappoint the most avid Elbow fan or a newcomer.

Standout tracks: “The Bones of You,” “Mirrorball” APRIL S. ENGRAM