British Sea Power’s past adventures have ranged from busking atop the Great Wall of China to playing on the Cutty Sark, so it’s no great leap for them to perform selections from their back catalogue with a 28-piece brass ensemble, Foden’s Band.
There are some lovely moments: brass oozes warmth and kettle drums pound to a glorious climax on Heavenly Waters; there’s a touch of foreboding to the new arrangement of When a Warm Wind Blows Through the Grass, and Atom has a pulverising, Beatlesque climax. But elsewhere, the two parties make for less comfortable bedfellows: Machineries of Joy sounds as if the band are trying to play it while an orchestra blares away next door.
The best songs are either relatively untouched or given a major overhaul; one can’t help wondering what might have happened had BSP been even braver, and simply asked the orchestra to play their music.
