They say that the 2^nd album is the most difficult to make and it  turned out to be true for Welsh band Funeral For a Friend that,  After the heights of Casually dressed and deep in conversation ended up releasing the not so brilliant Hours. So how do you follow something that clearly was over produced and failed to sound true? Stripping it down? Maybe, but FFAF has chosen the other way around.

Deciding to embrace a sound that is much closer to the traditional Americana, but without losing their very insular sensibility, FFAF has delivered an almost flawless album, made of grand choruses, intense, beefy guitar riffs and a depth of breath that allows Matt Davies to use his vocal range to impress more than the original crowd of hardcore/emo boys and girls.

An almost concept album to their own admission, Tales don't tell themselves, have moments of sheer beauty like in the fragile On a wire where the poetry of everyday isolation speaks of some sort of inner "Welsh-ness" if so we want to call it, but that applies to the rest of this scattered humanity we live in.

The rest of the songs, ranging from furiously abrasive to open, almost breezy up-tempo tunes, it's solid, beautifully put together and able to raise spirits and hearts.

It is a record for open spaces, completely juxtaposed to the claustrophobic Hours.

Tales don't tell themselves is not without faults, but it's a million times better than its predecessor and many of the most celebrated albums actually in the shops. This is a record of rebirth, regroup, intensity, growth and above all beauty.

Sit back and listen.

Trust me, it's worth it.

by Laila