Why is this one of my Desert Island Discs?

I came to Elbow thanks to Fugitive Motel (from their second album) but as soon as I got a copy of this (their first) it stuck in my brain.

There is something about the music, the embracing of cacophony, that coupled with Guy Garvey's gentle tones picking through his wordplay with such deft skill, makes everything click into place.

With the wrong singer, it would be too dark. With the wrong musicians, it would become overwhelming. But they find a balance, and while they moved away from these sounds for a while (and have returned more recently), it's this album that I recommend to people.

This does not contain the sort of stadium pleasing Leaders of the Free World style songs, and for me that's the joy. A glorious thrum, exploring noise and calm, loud and quiet as they go.

Head to Newborn - "I'll be a corpse in your bathtub, useless" for the entire album encapsulated.