Elbow

Boasting an cinematic sound and tapping into a wide range of emotions, British band Elbow rose to public consciousness with their acclaimed 2001 debut, Asleep in the Back and have continued to make similarly popular and intricately arranged albums ever since. While their first three outings established them as significant players on the U.K. scene, it was their sprawling fourth LP, The Seldom Seen Kid, that cemented their status, winning the 2008 Mercury Prize and setting a precedent for the group's self-production. It would inform their approach on subsequent albums like 2011's Build a Rocket Boys! and 2014's The Take Off and Landing of Everything, the latter of which became their first U.K. chart-topper. Along the way, Elbow collected Brit and Ivor Novello awards, and their music was featured heavily in the 2012 London Olympic Games, where they performed during the closing ceremony. Both 2017's Little Fictions and 2019's Giants of all Sizes reached number one in the U.K.. In 2021, they delivered Flying Dream 1, recorded at Brighton's Theatre Royal, before returning in 2024 with the kinetic and groove-oriented Audio Vertigo.