Stereophonics - Graffiti On the Train (iTunes Deluxe Edition) (2013)

For their sizable fanbase, Stereophonics will be for ever be synonymous with good times, Chris Evans's TV show and hands punching the air. For their detractors, they remain purveyors of meat-and-potatoes musical gruel. It may be too late to change many minds now, but the 2010 death of their former drummer Stuart Cable has brought about a metamorphosis. Although their eighth album isn't necessarily about him, his presence hangs heavy over it. Singer Kelly Jones delivers dark, melancholy songs of sadness and contemplation, the title track and Violins and Tambourines pondering the transience of life over touchingly simple guitar motifs. The band's sound has changed, too – it's less triumphal and more cinematic, although the Krautrock groove of Catacomb sounds genuinely angry. It's not always successful – Indian Summer is a more familiar rock chug – but it's hard to listen to the raw, guilt-laden No One's Perfect with a dry eye.

TRACKLIST
01. We Share the Same Sun | 3:44
02. Graffiti On the Train | 5:03
03. Indian Summer | 4:27
04. Take Me | 3:51
05. Catacomb | 3:14
06. Roll the Dice | 4:04
07. Violins and Tambourines | 4:58
08. Been Caught Cheating | 4:21
09. In a Moment | 5:25
10. No-one's Perfect | 4:00
11. Zoe | 4:06
12. Graffiti On the Train (Stripped) | 4:46
13. In a Moment (Toydrum Remix) | 6:27