Interview Music by Idlewild [5/10]

I picture Scottish band Idlewild, which I saw in Melbourne maybe a decade ago, as a group of very able musicians, plus, notably, self-declared poet Roddy Woomble. Woomble left the band after their heydays first few albums, and his next few releases were fine but more like earnest, if literate, poems set to minor key songs that never lifted. Idlewild reformed in 2015 and now “Interview Music” is a welcome blast from the past, but, really, a Roddy Woomble album buttressed by earnest musicianship that graces some songs with flair but can also retreat into disparate if professional chops. “Same Thing Twice” returns to the band’s jagged, scream-led roots; at the other extreme, “Lake Martinez” is a lovely Woomble lyric-led ballad; and “Mount Analogue” is a fine in-between chunky toon.