MusicOMH 4 out 5 album review for Archangel

MusicOMH give Archangel's debut album "How To Lose Your Best Friend" a 4 out 5 review!

"Much has been made of the fact that Archangel aren't a band, but the nom de plume of multi-instrumentalist Nick Webber. Over the course of these eleven songs Webber sings, plays drums, guitar, bass, piano and keyboards and probably made the tea as well. Luckily, his desire to retain control is more Prince then Lenny Kravitz when it comes to the quality stakes, with How To Lose Your Best Friend containing a handful of quality songs.

The album opens with the title track, and the listener is immediately knocked off guard as what sounds like the opening riff of the Foo Fighters' Everlong being played on a keyboard starts to emanate from the speakers. It's disconcerting, not least because it's such an odd calling card for an album that barely features a guitar played in anger. It's also too recent an influence, with the album luxuriating in the pomp of late '70s and early '80s pop (complete with a version of Steely Dan's Do It Again). Once you've shaken that off though, the song's hypnotic melody starts to work it's magic as the tension of the first couple of minutes is finally released in a flurry of piano and lyrical frustration ("I want what I have not").

Elsewhere, album highlight Odysseus recalls Let's Dance-era David Bowie, all two-note keyboard riffs and playful time signatures. There's also a great bit around the two minute mark when everything falls away to leave a simple keyboard riff that is cheekily reminiscent of theEurhythmics' Sweet Dreams, before everything falls back into place. Not every song looks that far back, with Hallelujah's slightly delayed nod to the punk funk phenomenon of about three years ago. Crucially, Webber ditches trying to be The Rapture after the first minute and the song settles into being a proper pop stomper with a gigantic chorus."

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