"Broadsheet journalists love The Feeling" - Clickmusic.comI have been a fan of The Feeling since their track "Never be Lonely" emerged at the tail end of summer 2006. In November, I saw them on Children in Need and I was struck by their refreshingly pleasant, unpretentious and clean cut public image. Later, I heard on Radio 2 that The Feeling list Supertramp as one of their influences. Influenced by this, I asked for albums of both groups for Christmas.
I got to listen to The Feeling's "Twelve Stops and Home" CD for the first time in depth during my round Wales geocaching tour. I must have listened to it five times all the way through. It chimes with me on several levels - Melody, harmony and (mainly romantic) lyrics.
With the possible exception of Coldplay, I've not been able to "get into" many of the new groups of the 2000s, such as Keane, Snow Patrol etc (though K is a big fan of both the latter 2). However The Feeling have sneaked under my radar! I'm not the best album reviewer but here's one I found by Ted Kord on Amazon.co.uk which chimes almost identically with my own views...
"With "indie" rapidly becoming a by-word for "whinging", it's refreshing to hear an album like The Feeling's debut, Twelve Stops and Home. People who come to this album having only heard the catchy-yet-downbeat single "Sewn" might find the jaunty, upbeat tone of the rest of this album a refreshing surprise. Twelve Stops and Home is pure, summery optimism, with most tracks bouncing along at a happy, head-nodding pace, and packed to the brim with simple, singalong lyrics, including the liberal use of "la-la-la" and "na-na-na". Sure it's lightweight, but that's no bad thing--it cuts like a ray of sunshine right through the knee-hugging depression of contemporaries Coldplay and Keane, with whom the Feeling are sometimes, bizarrely, compared. Instead, Twelve Stops and Home is a pop album straight out of the 1970s, played by young men with guitars and a piano. Which explains why "Fill My Little World" and "I Want You Now" are so cheerful, sounding like Squeeze would have if they sang about puppies. On Twelve Stops and Home, the Feeling may not be out to change the world, but they're happy to make it a bit brighter."
