As a huge live music fan, it doesn’t feel right if I haven’t got a few live shows booked in the coming months. Looking forward to 2016, I’ve only got the two gigs in my calendar, Coldplay at Wembley in June, but first, City and Colour at Troxy, London in February. Where the quantity of gig isn’t to the numbers I’d like, there’s no disputing the quality of performance I am set to experience.
I’ve been a fan of City and Colour since the beginning, and by that I don’t mean Bring Me Your Love, I mean Alexisonfire. Way backin my teen years, I had the standard long black hair covering pretty much all of my face stage, to which Alexisonfire was the soundtrack. In fact, it was almost the change in direction provided by City and Colour that caused my music tastes to mature.
2015 saw the release of City and Colour’s fifth studio album If I Should Go Before You - not counting the fantastic Live In London At the Roundhouse, 18.10.11. As I’ve followed City and Colourfrom the start, I heard their development, moving from Dallas Green as the sole member, to their current formation. I can safely say that If I Should Go Before You is the finest work to date.
Kicking off with the - for want of a more sophisticated word - absolutely massive and atmospheric Woman (which is enough to send shivers down the most seasoned fans spine), follows an album of glorious song writing. Highlights include the undeniably funky Killing Time and the beautifully crafted story of a breakup form the heartbreaker Lover Come Back.
If I Should Go Before You is an album ripe with genius. It marks a maturity in both finding their sound and exceptional song writing that City and Colour fans have become accustomed to. They’d be forgiven for taken this quality for granted, considering some of the less successful albums churned out by artists throughout 2015. Where If I Should Go Before You is not a breath of fresh air, due to City and Colour’s impeccably high standards, it’s an absolutely essential purchase for any fan or the artist of the alternative genre.
