The Blue Nile

2.5 stars out of 5

Blue Nile fans are sometimes an unhappy lot. Their favorite band is notorious for avoiding the studio -- they've only released four full studio albums in nearly two decades -- and more often than not, their music is an exercise in overt melancholia. Which is not to say that it cannot connect with you; indeed, Glasgow's Blue Nile excels at the type of plaintive earnestness that has made nice careers for the current crop of alt-folkies playing at a coffeehouse near you. Perhaps that's why the Nile feels they can get away with a title so opposite their chosen sonic vibe. Which is another way of saying that High is anything but.

High is a measured affair, with Paul Buchanan's emotive pleas drifting lightly above spare guitar ("Because of Toledo"), piano (the aptly titled "The Days of Our Lives") or beats ("I Would Never"). Given the chilled production and uncluttered arrangements, you'd think that The Blue Nile would be able to step behind the boards more often and turn out more work - it's not like they have to corral an orchestra or anything. But different strokes, as the TV used to sing to me when I was a kid.

If it's raining outside and you've got some candles to burn, then The Blue Nile is for you. But if you're illegally racing your ride across the freeways of California, you better head somewhere else for a soundtrack. - Scott Thill, Morphizm.com

If you've read anything else about the Blue Nile, you already know it takes them eight to ten years between albums, they're elegant sad sacks, and they're critically adored for the most part. Their last album, 1996's Peace at Last, was their first stumble, with main man Paul Buchanan yammering wistfully about family and domestication instead of giving listeners the skeletal poems and studio magic of their first two albums. If you weren't staring at your newborn, Peace at Last could grow tiresome, but the Blue Nile have returned with a more balanced album and Buchanan is broken-hearted again, thank the stars. He's been struggling with fatigue and illness and as selfish and inconsiderate as it sounds, it's brought the spark back to his writing. Mood over narrative has always worked to the Blue Nile's benefit and that's what the excellent "Broken Loves" is all about, giving the listener a better chance to relate than Peace at Last's postcard from home. "I Would Never" is the sweet single, but album tracks like "Because of Toledo" and "She Saw the World" are where the album gets meaty and intricately structured, recalling the glory days. Getting more obscure and atmospheric toward the end, High follows the arc of their classic, Walk Across the Rooftops, and given the time to sink in, the album fits well in their canon. The closing "Stay Close" is one of those "raw emotion over urbanite aesthetic" tracks that fans crave. It makes the eyes well up, and like the better part of High, justifies the next eight- to ten-year wait. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi