At first I thought Guillemots were all dreamy and floaty. Then I thought they weren’t. Then I bought the album and they kind of are, but not in the way I thought. Some of it has this sweeping orchestral thing going on, and really is quite beautiful and moving, just not in that overly pretty way. But some is like some crazy danceable indie pop that sounds a bit like what would happen if you took a few members from Belle & Sebastian, The Polyphonic Spree, and the late-80s/early-90s The Cure and shoved them in a room together. Only kind of not.

Which means, obviously, that they’re doing something very different. Unlike some of the other Mercury Prize nominees. I was thinking about this while I was listening to Through The Windowpane this morning – I’m kind of disappointed in the nominees this year. I admit that I haven’t heard most of the albums, but c’mon – Arctic Monkeys? They’re good and all, but this is the same competition that honored Dizzee Rascal, Franz Ferdinand, and M.I.A. in the last few years (I’m still pretending that she won, don’t mess with me). These are all artists that did something different and new, they changed popular music. And, geez, Editors? Sigh. Anyways, like I said, I can’t judge most of albums nominated, but there’s at least a few that I’m bummed to see listed.

But Guillemots have definitely got originality on their side. I only got the CD a few days ago, and have barely had a chance to listen to it. This is my favorite so far.

   Guillemots – Trains To Brazil