You could read the press release for My Latest Novel’s new album, Deaths And Entrances, and you’d likely have a pretty good idea what it’s about. Breathtaking melodies? Check. Gorgeous harmonies? Check. Sweeping arrangements? Check. As good as their debut album Wolves was, Deaths And Entrances radiates confidence and suggests that My Latest Novel is a band who have hit their stride.The band holed up for nearly two years in an old pub in their hometown of Greenock to create Deaths And Entrances. In addition to borrowing the album title from a Dylan Thomas poem, My Latest Novel drew upon many other literary gems for inspiration, including Alasdair Gray’s 'Lanark', Kurt Vonnegut’s 'Slaughterhouse-Five' and Edgar Allan Poe’s 'The Tell-Tale Heart'. Such literary influences, along with the fact that many of the songs were written at the same time, result in an album that is cohesive and flows as one body of work rather than eleven individual tracks.With a title like Deaths And Entrances, its unsurprising that topics touched upon include murder, war and time travel; what may be surprising is how beautifully these heady subjects play out with layer after layer of harmony and instrumentation. The album asserts itself straight away with the commanding percussion, humming violins and Chris Deveney’s Scottish-accented vocals in 'All In All Is All'. 'Lacklustre' (one highlight of many) uses a sweet and deceptively simple melody to tell the tragic story of L’Inconnue de la Seine: “Annie die while your smile lives in plastic/Sing while you sink la la la”.'Argument Against The Man'/'Man Against The Argument' is an epic tale of war, complete with horns, flag-waving and crashing percussion. 'If The Accident Will' follows, beginning in sharp contrast with a defeated sounding narrator who has become disillusioned with war, swelling to an anthemic march before exiting with a lone guitar. There just simply isn’t a bad, or even mediocre track on this album. My biggest complaint is that it’s over before I’m ready for it to be over - the final track catches me by surprise every time!Deaths And Entrances is magnificent enough in scope to attract comparisons to Funeral-era Arcade Fire. Yet there is enough beauty and softness to the album that it simultaneously exudes warmth and comfort, despite the often melancholy stories it tells. Although the album is immediately likable, it is held together by so many bits and pieces that it demands repeated listens. Definitely one of the year’s best (so far). 89%

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TLOBF are hosting the launch party for Deaths and Entrances at Bush Hall, London on 25th May. As well as a headlining set from My Latest Novel there will be performances from It Hugs Back, Left With Pictures, Stars Of Sunday League and music from Bella Union DJs. An unmissable night for sure. Tickets are £8 and available here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My Latest Novel on MySpace