Albums of the decade #3 – Idlewild – The Remote Part (2002)

What more can I say about The Remote Part? It’s been one of my very favourite albums for years. It genuinely has no weakness; there is not a single song that lets it down. Roddy Woomble’s vocals are charming, and are accompanied by music that is practically perfect. It’s hard to put into words just how good this album is. One reason I love it so much is the melodies – they are written at what I think of as “speaking pitch” – that is, they rise and fall as the pitch of a spoken sentence would. They are also right on my singing range! ‘American English’ is the expected contender for greatest song of all time, but The Remote Part is packed full of songs I love to bits.