Despite my overwhelming love for their two singles "Its All Over This Town" and the current and quite enchanting "Black and White", it has taken me a whole two days to listen to The Upper Room's debut album "other people's problems". But as I returned to work from the holiday weekend this windy Wednesday morning, I needed a little pick me up so decided my mood would benefit from the straightforward lyrics and melodic genius that comes from this brighton four piece.

Thematically, it does kind of remind me of Hard-Fi, whom last year put out the frequently delightful, occasionally patchy "Stars of CCTV" which was a bleak look at working class life in England. TUR take a more middle class approach – or at the very least an upper lower working class perspective. A lot of the songs detail lost love and longing, broken hearts and misunderstandings, which basically could have soundtracked my life from the ages of 18 to 25. The songs definitely benefit from being polished up from their demo stages – Portrait is a gorgeous tune that just has to be the next single and it kind of reminds me of the lilac time mixed with the gin blossoms, but in a good way with incredibly bittersweet lyrics that really made me sad: "This is a portrait of my life, this is a photo on the wall, thi is the sharp edge of the knife ending it all"

The standout track for me has to be It began on the radio which closes the album. If hard-Fi appeal to people who are just living for the weekend then the upper room are going after the more lovesick younger brother who remembers when he first fell in love and exactly what he was doing. I can't imagine a more enchanting song being chosen to finish off this lyrically lovely set of tunes.

Quite quite charming

MP3: It began on radio

(previously posted mp3s)

MP3: Black and white acoustic
MP3: Never tear us apart
MP3: In Love We Trust

Buy the album here