First Listen: Philip Selway - Familial

Philip Selway, drummer for the British rock quintet super gods known as Radiohead, released his first solo album today, called Familial. My first reaction to hearing the first single off the album, By Some Miracle, was (in the voice of Yoda) 'Hrmmmmm, unexpected this is.' The song, as does most of the album, consists mainly of Phil picking an acoustic guitar and softly cooing lyrics that makes one wonder if he could fill in for Thom Yorke, or in fact should be singing backup instead of Ed O'brien, who seems to insist on blaring out his name to fill the void on songs like Karma Police and Weird Fishes, but I digress.

Interestingly enough, when drums are finally featured on the third song of the album, they are provided by none other than Wilco drummer, Glenn Kotche. The song, 'A Simple Life', is unfortunately the only upbeat (and I use that word loosely) song on the album. After a while, the rest of the album seem to run together, and this is the albums downfall. Fortunately, Phil knows when enough is enough, as the album is barely over 30 minutes long.

Overall the album is well produced and the music beautiful, but when it's over, you probably won't want to listen to it again. Not that you would be opposed to it, because it's not bad, it just doesn't beg for multiple listens. I give it a 3/5.

To form your own opinion, go here for a listen, but hurry up, as this link expires sometime today.