Daily Jam - Powder Blue

In the late '90s and early 2000’s, when it became increasingly apparent that Radiohead were leaving the sound they created on 1995’s The Bends behind them to chart and explore new sonic territories, a veritable bevy of bands and artists swooped in to fill the aural void. Some of these groups aped the sound to perfection for awhile and then disappeared completely back into the ether. Some tweaked and broadened the sound to create something truly their own. Some were more rock. Some were more pop. Some were Coldplay. And some of these bands were unfairly marginalized and labeled as mere clones, like the soulful Ramsbottom quintet Elbow. They are so much more, and have continued to evolve over the course of a half dozen albums, but they really hooked their claws into my ears with “Powder Blue,” a beautiful and devastating track from their 2001 debut Asleep in the Back.

The songs sweeps and sinks to a gorgeous and lush piano melody, while lead singer Guy Garvey croons in an earthy, smoky tenor with flashes of falsetto about two addict lovers coming down and going through withdrawals together. There’s a sweetness to the tragedy, a nod to unrelenting true love in the direst of circumstances, ultimately created by ourselves. And at song’s end, when those two sustained horn notes hit in solemn procession, it’s like the floor crumbles away below your feet, like the world just falls away. It’s like a punch in the gut. And then it’s over.

Based on “Powder Blue” alone, I keep coming back to Elbow and their glorious and gritty ballroom pop. The band’s organic British sound feels dingier and dirtier than so many of their contemporaries, like some kind of alcoholic lounge act playing in a smoke-filled room near the airport.

That’s the highest compliment I can think to give to someone.

Check it out below, our Daily Jam.