How Lucky We Are Being Us and Each Other – Otherish (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Someone much smarter than myself once said that there is no second act in American lives, although it is a quote that the author himself often contradicted. You can interpret it as meaning that you only get one moment in the sun, only fifteen metaphorical minutes of fame, only one real shot at things. And the same is true of making music. And whereas some artists get their moment straight out of the blocks, others wait a long time to be recognised. But those afforded the time to develop, evolve, age and learn before the spotlight turns their way are often the more intriguing.

Otherish are just such a band. The members of the band may have had long careers in music-making but it is as Otherish and, more specifically with this, their third album, that they will, or at least should, get the recognition they deserve and finally get to play out in public their first great musical act. Good things come to those who wait, I guess.

How Lucky We Are Being Us and Each Other is a glorious album that seems like a gem being held up to the light, the colours shifting as it is turned. Move it one way, and you get a flash of lush, psychedelic chamber pop; another, some almost proggy interludes catch the light a different way, and you see everything from rich and ornate pop music, arty interludes, alternative rock, ornate crescendos, ambient lulls and sounds which are purely their own.

Otherish make music in the same rich and anthemic way that the likes of Elbow and Doves do, but they are no mere pastiche or plunderers of past glories. Otherish somehow manage to be unique yet easily fit into the listeners existing comfort zones; they are both fresh and familiar, although I don’t really know how they do that. Opposites attract, I suppose.

Although one thing is for sure, you may hear all manner of past sounds being used as the building blocks for their music, but their moment is definitely now.