Valhalla - (Norse mythology) the hall in which the souls of heros slain in battle were received by Odin
With Valhalla Dancehall, British Sea Power have succeeded in demonstrating both their virtuosity and ingenuity.
Who's In Control opens the album with a rallying call to arms, wishing protest "was sexy on a Saturday night" and proudly questioning the status quo.
Georgie Ray is inspired by a combination of George Orwell and Ray Bradbury dystopian nightmare and boasts the most joyously piercing guitar solo heard in many a moon; the song's message captured perfectly in the passage, "Before the language gets perfected to a solitary grunt/Can we still sing electric on the sun?" - Wonderful.
Stunde Null, the German language equivalent for 'hour zero' - and more specifically used to refer to the fall of the Nazi's Third Reich - clears the decks with a raucous cacophony of guitar and, whether intentional or otherwise, acts as a portent symbol of the forthcoming change in the album's approach.
From here on in, British Sea Power are determined to harness every single weapon in their armoury. Mongk-II is all woozy vocals coming on like a long, lost rock standard; Baby is a delicate slow burner with a plinky, plonk piano motif; single Living Is So Easy boasts memorable opening gambit, "Oh my God did she look cute/At the Dame Vera clay pigeon shoot", a line so distinctively British Sea Power that it only serves to underline their unique idiosyncratic genius.
As masterful as this band undoubtedly are, it's hard not to feel a little disoriented by it all - and that's before the dual epics of Cleaning Out The Rooms (another ode to starting afresh) and Once More Now have come to pass. As a result, quick fire nuggets such as the magnesium burn Thin Black Sail and the astronomical Observe The Skies seem to unjustly lose their impact.
It's a minor criticism however. Rather we should all be grateful for a band, and an album, of such range, reference and riotousness. Odin would no doubt approve.
