Review Summary: Hope Fading Nightly is easily one of the records of the year. 12 of the finest Indie Pop gems, any band will produce in 2015, made even better by being performed by a band, who can only produce good will in their audience. So get into the stands and from
During their 12 year run, Tellison have carved out a reputation as one of the finest British Indie rock bands of their generation. The band's blend of emotive, well constructed songs and strong work ethic have seen them dazzle crowds across the becoming some of the most loved babyface indie darlings on the UK scene.
Tellison have often looked close to crashing through the glass ceiling, grabbing that brass ring and showing a wider audience what they've been missing by overlooking these far from B+ players but for reasons unbeknown to this reviewer factors have conspired to still see these blue chippers continue cracking at the panes rather than smashing through, their noses pressed against their section of the glass, waiting for it to cave. 2007's Contact! Contact! saw the brass ring close, but it just didn't quite fall into place.
Tellison seemingly went home after 2011's 'The Wages of Fear', a fine record, that further strengthened the cries of their loyal fan base that they should have their own ice cream bars and collectors cups and were indeed main event players. 4 years of soul searching later and the blue chipper babyfaces have returned, older,wiser and more grizzled and ready to put your favourite band through a table and drop the Indie pipebomb of 2015 and take what is theirs.
Opener 'Letter to the Team' setting the tone for what is to follow, a band that have freed themselves from trying to crash through the glass ceiling, freed themselves from worrying about what anybody else thinks. The band's driving force, Stephen Davidson uses 'Letter to the Team' to literally apologise to all those who've been involved in the band we know as Tellison for their fate. The gentle,self deprecation exorcises ghosts, and gives the band a platform from which to start again.
Hope Fading Nightly sees those Tellison boys putting in the most frank, honest, unrelenting and brilliant display of their lives. Every song fills you with that big match feeling, a band who will make their Wrestlemania moment happen and then ride off into the sunset of glory. Boots laced, tights on, wrists taped, Hope Fading Nightly leaves it all in the ring.
Every sinew of this record strains with emotion, a band who have thrown everything into every note and make every single detail sound like its the most important thing they have ever or will ever do a record that will blow you off your feet, whether you fall willingly or the thundering guttural vibrations of Hold Steady esq guitars of tracks like 'Boy' upset your balance for you.
It's that lineage of bands born and raised on American heartland rock couple with very British cynicism that bears its teeth most obviously on this record. 'Tact Is Dead' is as much Born to Lose as it is Born to Run and all the better for it.
Hope Fading Nightly is the audible representation of Crystal Palace Central Defender,Damien Delany's personal performance in the 2013 Championship Play Off Final. At the start of that season Delany had hit rock bottom, a player short of confidence and injured, Delany had quit Ipswich and was about to retire.plucked from the grounds of despair by a club in need of a player, Delany gradually re-found his feet.
A few months later,Delany was starting for Crystal Palace in front of 90,000 people and 90 minutes away from the highest level. In that 90 minutes plus extra time Delany put in the performance of his absolute lifetime, including a life changing last ditch tackle to prevent a through on goal Vyrda from putting Watford 1-0 up, get it wrong and he's sent off or concedes, Delany times the tackle absolutely to perfection through sheer and utter determination to not be beaten and the rest is history (the date emblazoned on the Irishman's arm forever more, his tears at the final whistle widely documented).
Hope Fading Nightly is easily one of the records of the year. 12 of the finest Indie Pop gems, any band will produce in 2015, made even better by being performed by a band, who can only produce good will in their audience. So get into the stands and from the cheap seats to the front row, scream your lungs out and watch Tellison steal one more show, on their own terms, whatever may come next.
