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2004 saw sequel albums from The Strokes [Room on Fire] and The Thrills [Let’s Bottle Bohemia] and well, honestly, they didn’t live up to the hype they were born into. The Music, although somewhat over looked, released the much anticipated follow-up, ‘Welcome to the North’. Unlike the produce from The Strokes and The Thrills, where the musical progression is at a bare minimum, the development that has been put into this can be seen clean and clear in comparison to the stunning self titled debut. Welcome to the North observes The Music’s gigantic leap forward in the musical greatness they have finally bound themselves to from the international recognition they received over the past year. The sounds the band muster; the raw, power rock generated from tracks such as ‘Welcome to the North’, ‘Freedom Fighters’ and ‘Cessation’, makes anyone, regardless of how well they know these guys’ work, appreciate the strength these boys wield. Even though Welcome to the North still possess that heavy riff driven dance rock as previously heard in debut, The Music, it differs in the sense that it is more mature, tamer and is evident in the lyrics that Harvey and the band members have so exquisitely collated to string together a masterpiece such as this. The album begins strong and powerful however, beings to evolve into a slow heart-warming ballads. It doesn’t live up to the rep it earned in the debut, as this album is absent of tracks along the similar lines to ‘The People’ and ‘Truth is no Words.’ Nonetheless, this album contains the best cadenced drumbeats and bass lines, awarding it the most solid tempo section around of the year, in my eyes! Band members can be uniquely acknowledged for their collective contribution throughout the record to make this ‘The Music’ of 2004. Escalating riffs, thumping bass, pounding beat and extraordinarily distinctive vocals to accompany. (Phenomenal strings in tracks, ‘One Way In, No Way Out’ and 'Freedom Fighters') Drummer shines throughout the album and exceptionally so in tracks ‘Bleed from Within.’ En contra to The Music where the heavy riff driven dance rock played a prominent role, this on comparison is a tamer, matured and mellow album. However, don’t let this dishearten you. The guys have still kept to their guns, sticking to music genre from the past 30 years (70’s rock, 80’s metal and 90’s dance). On some occasions, tracks may some what possess and be labelled as Pop (E.g. ‘Into the Night’ and ‘I Need Love’) with their extremely catchy lyrics. Therefore, it’s a multi genre piece of music, cutting across a vast variety of musical fields at all possible angles. As a result, it is much more reachable than the prior. To conclude, this album should not cower in the shadow of The Music. Nope. Welcome To The North is a milestone for The Music. Could this be a teaser for something bigger to follow? By looking at the contrasts between the first and second album, I hope the forthcoming will show even more of a leap forward as The Music lay their way in playing … The Music!

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