Flaws (2010)

"Calling ‘Flaws’ a Bombay Bicycle Club record is misleading. It isn’t; not in that sort of way. We probably would have gone with Jack Steadman and Bombay Bicycle Club, because there’s a real sense that the new album makes him the star. His acoustic guitar is the album’s anchor, with very little in the way of contribution from the other band members - but this is entirely a good thing. Like the debut, the melodies contained on the new album are its strongest point. Even the reworkings of a selection of older tracks sound fresh, their immediacy shining through even more clearly due to their bare-bones makeup. Closing with Steadman’s take on Joanna Newsom’s stunning ‘Swansea’, rejigged with an entirely new hook, and showcasing the frontman’s breathless vocals very well indeed, ‘Flaws’ is a gentle rebuke for those who had written Bombay Bicycle Club off after just one record." (diymag)