Truly happy yet honest albums are in short supply. If they’re happy they’re usually over-the-top and use cringe-worthy lyrics, but if the album’s songs are bathed in sadness then there’s a risk that it will sound whiny and dull. On Let It All In I Am Kloot have struck a beautiful balance; the album can be best described as giving an insight into melancholic happiness.
Produced by Guy Garvey and Craig Potter of well-loved Manchester band Elbow the tracks on Let It All In flow naturally with an easy air. Even at some of its saddest points, such as on "Hold Back the Night" when front man John Bramwell sings “Turn on the light/I can’t see where I’m running/Future keeps coming”, there’s still something undeniably uplifting about the song.
Every song is believable, no lyric or chord sounds forced or laboured. Bramwell’s lyrics take on the part of storytelling in "Shoeless", as he sings “Shoeless in your favourite dress/You walk the shore/The waves caress your feet” you can almost hear the waves and feel the sand in between your toes as you walk along the coast. In a nod to The Beatles "Some Better Day" sounds like it could be a lost track from Sergeant Peppers.... A beautiful orchestral backing subtly plays during the song, only really coming to light occasionally when the brass plays at the chorus. This song also signals the beginning of the album’s switch from stripped-back acoustic songs to layered multi-instrumental tracks.
"These Days are Mine", the second single from the album, still stands out instantly from the first listen. It’s nearly impossible to hear it without imagining a crowd at Glanstonbury singing back every word. It has the potential to be this year’s ubiquitous festival chant and could be up there alongside Elbow’s "One Day Like This" for the title of Most Uplifting Song Ever Written.
On Let It All In the songs brim with excitement even at low points. It feels like the lyrics are allowing you traverse another world, another life, while the music is saying everything that words alone just can’t. It’s rare to find an album that makes such perfect sense, rarer still to find one that packs so much emotion without it becoming wearisome or overbearing. Let It All In turns some of the most fraught emotions into sweet little melodies that have the ability to make it sound like everything will be okay, there will always be an upside. Embrace your melancholic happiness with Let It All In as the only suitable soundtrack.
