The prospect of reviewing Absent Elk’s new single, Change My World, initially did not fill me with much joy. Having toured with The Script, The Hoosiers and, ahem, Girls Aloud, I did not have high hopes.

However, what I found were lovely lyrics, the type you imagine (/hope, if you are female…) are written about from dreamy past experience. The song itself has natural flow, starting from a few eerie first notes then building to a passionate, violin-filled crescendo at the end, whilst all the different components of sound mesh together pleasantly to produce an agreeable melodic narrative.

Yet, this is the band’s downfall – their single is merely agreeable/pleasant as, put simply, they lack charisma. There is nothing that stands out about them – neither the voice, nor the sound itself – a trait sorely needed when every other band nowadays seems to be an indie five-piece with a heart full of issues to share. I hate to say this (no, really – I looked on their MySpace and they seem a genuinely charming bunch of chaps) but it’s bland and could just as well have been made by any other of their ‘break-out’ contemporaries.

Released 30th November 2009 on Sony BMG/RCA

Words by Liz Davies