Unbelievable Truth
Almost Here

THE REVIEW

Genre: acoustic pop

With only two albums to their name (followed by a collection of unreleased tracks and b-sides, paired in a double CD with a live album), the Unbelievable Truth of the younger Yorke (the older brother Thom is the singer of the much better-known Radiohead) are the bearers of a brief yet intense musical career.

Both albums are imperfect, almost too simple in their lyrics, chords, and arrangements, one might say, if it weren't for the fact that often, hidden in the simplest things, small pearls of shimmering beauty are to be found.
“Angel”, “Stone”, “Finest Little Space,” the (relatively) better-known “Higher Than Reason,” all appearing in their debut album (the one this review focuses on) are songs marked by a sadness never too ostentatious (perhaps it's a “vice” of the family), and that, probably, would already, in themselves, elevate any acoustic pop CD (and not only), not to mention the other tracks that are anything but substandard. Yet, it is right at the end, almost as a reward for those who were willing/able to listen, that the discreet “Be Ready” shines, as an invitation to reconsider and perhaps listen again with more attention to this album, leaving the impression that perhaps not everything has been said or revealed.

Besides the collection, only one other album would follow, also more than good, with a title almost foretelling the farewell the band would soon give to the music world: “Sorrythankyou”...

Then the singer Andy, probably tired of the constant comparisons between his career and that of his much more successful brother (after all, the first two EPs by Unbelievable Truth that preceded “Almost Here” are contemporaneous with “Ok Computer,” while “Sorrythankyou” is with “Kid A,” comparisons truly difficult to withstand) decided it was time to dissolve the group, leaving us thus with only a handful of songs, the seeds of a band that could have, who knows, also been great if they had not (perhaps) been crushed by so many, too many expectations.