London Grammar - The Greatest Love

London Grammar’s fourth album, ‘The Greatest Love’, is the sound of a band 15 years into their career and perfectly at peace with who they are, liberated to take risks on their own terms and delivering their best work yet.

The developments here are subtle but deeply impactful as the songs swell to expansive levels like the enveloping warmth of standout track ‘You and I’ or the jittery electronic pulse of opening track ‘House’. The songs are evocative and the stories compelling as the insidious rich instrumentation matches the finely detailed imagery of the storytelling.

All the London Grammar hallmarks that have made them so successful are present, primarily the stunning vocals of Hannah Reid, this time employed in an ever more rich and dynamic form as she employs different facets of her voice for different moods. The real mark of progression, though, comes in the songwriting with lyrics that are often sharp and cutting but deeply inspiring and illuminating, culminating in the band’s masterpiece with the closing title track. ‘The Greatest Love’ is a confident expression of London Grammar’s musical identity and ambition.