Leaders of the Free World (2CD/DVD)

Leaders of the Free World is the third studio album from Elbow and was released in 2005. It was entirely self-produced at Blueprint Studios in Salford, Manchester a space the band hired for the duration of their recording sessions.

Leaders has been described as a love-letter to a place, to home, to Manchester. It begins with ‘Station Approach’, with Guy Garvey stepping off a train after the ‘Cast Of Thousands’ tour, eulogising the piece of pavement that leads down from Piccadilly Station, once a symbol of urban decay, now a shiny emblem of the city’s regeneration. Leaders deals with the consequences of coming back. “Like a second chapter to old songs such as ‘Fugitive Motel’, tracks like ‘My Very Best’ show a relationship disintegrating due to distance.... It’s an album of twists, turns, and stories. “

The deluxe edition of the album features a bonus disc of radio sessions and live performances. It includes fan favourite McGreggor (the video of which is one of the band’s favourites) and again features a movie put together by previous Elbow collaborators the Soup Collective.

After a year living in the roof of Blueprint studios with Elbow and a host of friends dropping in with pens, pencils and cameras, the result was a collections of films, part documentary, part animated monster and part performance, the movie encompasses the working and development of the full album.