Album Review Hotel Lux - Hands Across The Creek

With ‘Hands Across The Creek’ coming five years after their initial breakthrough, Hotel Lux are in the unlucky position of having successfully distanced themselves from being dismissed as the nth breakthrough from a once-fertile Brixton Windmill scene only to end up with a debut album that - to anyone unaware of its lengthy gestation - sounds as if it’s reaching for the coat-tails of indie’s subsequent wave of popularity. The chorus of ‘Common Sense’ could fit right in on a Yard Act set, while ‘Eastbound And Down’ is akin to what one imagines Sports Team’s Alex Rice might sound like should he end up on a commuter train following a week without sleep. Yes, the elephant in the room is that Lewis Duffin really likes to talk-sing, and ultimately anyone’s enjoyment of ‘Hands Across The Creek’ depends on which side of the divide one stands. Unlike many of his peers, however, he does like to enunciate. “Could you make a better man of me?” he asks in ‘Points Of View’, making like Art Brut’s Eddie Argos in a perpetual existential crisis. Their attempts to switch it up a little musically are valiant – the organ in ‘TEN’ is a particularly gorgeous addition – but they’re ultimately best when peddling that observational melodic post-punk.