Track Listing:
1. Aubade [1:39]
2. Hope Against Hope [3:47]
3. Brief Lives [3:20]
4. Sleepless [4:41]
5. Jerusalem [4:20]
6. Switch Off, Switch Off [4:00]
7. The Ocean In Your Room [1:07]
8. Don’t Lose Your Head [5:50]
9. Soldiers [4:29]
10. It’s Raining Again [2:34]
11. Draw Swords [7:17]

A little sticker on the sealed CD case reads: “For fans of Coldplay, Bright Eyes, and Radiohead.” How accurate this is. Three tracks into the album and you can already hear ‘The Bends’, mixed in with a handy bit of Parachutes. The sticker also reads: “An atmospheric and intense jewel of Australia’s new Indie-pop sensation.” Again, spot on. This trio from Tasmania, Australia are doing their utmost to work their way into the eyes (and indeed ears) of the European and US market.

Enola Fall formed in 2001 in Hobart, Tasmania. Originally known as “Melatonin”, they recorded an experimental CD, which circulated locally. It was followed up the year after with “The City In The Sea” under the name Enola Fall. In 2003 they released their biggest seller so far, “It Always Comes To This”, which boosted their fame in Australia, and in November 2005 they will release “We Never Sleep”.

Think Radiohead, Coldplay, Elbow, and Athlete, but merged into a Tasmanian substance. This equals “We Never Sleep”. The album begins with a short instrumental song, ‘Aubade’; gently easing the listener into the album. This leads into ‘Hope Against Hope’, which may well result in flashbacks for the hardcore Radiohead fans, and as the album drifts into ‘Brief Lives’, significant 90’s soft indie is here. Track 4, ‘Sleepless’, is anything but. So far this album may just have you drifting off slightly. We hear Bruce Lamont on trumpet towards the end. ‘Jerusalem’ is a rather powerful ballad, and keep an ear open for the impressive singing throughout. One point that could be picked up on is that so far, the album sounds a bit samey, and some could be left trying to think when the transitions between songs were. ‘Switch Off, Switch Off’ almost eradicates this problem instantly. This could easily pass as an Athlete song, and has a dominant bass riff, solving the problems passed earlier on as it is something different.

Then comes something completely different and something else altogether, but it doesn’t last long. ‘The Ocean In Your Room’ is a creepy, spooky, short song with what sounds like failing pianos, with a creepy voiceover giving instructions about emergency equipment on a boat. Very odd, and certainly something to keep you awake. This leads nicely into “Don’t Lose Your Head”, the calmest song on the album so far, which may come as a light relief after track 7. It is possible to compare it to early Elbow material, with it’s simple piano riffs tied in with strong drumming and emotional singing. ‘Soldiers’, and ‘It’s Raining Again’ put the album into the ultimate crisis – the possibility of an anticlimax. The two tracks do not seem to possess the flare heard earlier on. Fortunately, they are saved by “Draw Swords”, the final track on the album, and a superb finale. Think Muse’s “Megalomania”, but a bit less drastic.

Fans of the soft indie approach to music will admire this work, and if indeed you do have Radiohead, Coldplay, Elbow, Athlete, Belle And Sebastian, Longview, etc. in your record collection, I strongly recommend this album. It may all sound the same to everyone else, but the differences are there, and a band like Enola Fall are perfectly capable of getting a good foothold in the scene.

Elona Fall are currently touring Germany, and will be until mid-October. “We Never Sleep” is released through Gemelo Records/Century Media Distribution on November 11th. More information can be found at their site – www.enolafall.com.

Overall, “We Never Sleep” is a good album, and contains some strong work, their only downside being they can get a little repetitive. Nonetheless, this could be the year that Enola Fall make the big scene, and this album has the characteristics to propel them skyward.

Band Members:
Adam Carl D’Andrea (Drums)
Joe Nuttall (Guitar/Vocals)
Kieran Holm (Bass)

Rating Out of 10: