ELBOW'S latest album has blasted off straight to the top of the charts — and it's easy to see why.

As with any Elbow track and album, the lyrics are brilliant, whether it's an up-tempo rocker, or a slow, contemplative ballad.

And there are plenty of the latter in their latest offering, The Take off and Landing of Everything.

This Blue World is a slow burner about whatever's going on in the world, “you'll know to come to me”, with the reminder that there will always be a place in your heart for someone. In fact, Guy tells us it's one of the four chambers, while the remaining three are for someone else!

Charge has a slight 70's funk feel to it as we learn about ignorant people who never learn from history . . . both in love and in the ways of the world.

For me, the pick of the bunch is Fly Boy Blue/Lunette, which reminds me of a slightly pacier Any Day Now from the Asleep in the Back days. It changes pace as it slides into Lunette, which has an interlude feel about it with Pete Turner's steady bass guiding the way.

The hugely catchy Colour Fields left me with the repeating hook “bright girl, dead town” going round in my head for most of the evening, and the title track, The Take off and Landing of Everything, is an ideal one to unwind to after a tough day.

I kept expecting a stadium anthem, such as Fallen Angel, Grounds for Divorce, or One Day Like This, but Elbow have never done what people expect.

You always feel you have come away from an Elbow concert or album having learnt something, and this is no exception.

They are fantastic story tellers and they have 10 to tell here . . . and each is well worth listening to.

I can't wait to see them perform these and their other hits live next month.