
I love writing music reviews, and this will be the first of many more to come.
As everyone who has read this blog knows, I am a huge Badly Drawn Boy fan. Does this mean I can't be objective? Of course I can.
Is There Nothing We Could Do? is the soundtrack to the English movie,
The Fattest Man in Britain. Personally, I would have loved to see instead a standard album release from BDB.
Going against
Pitchfork (who rate his other soundtrack
About a Boy lower)
Is There Nothing We Could Do? is probably his weakest release. Really, it's main issue is the lack of true songs that can stand alone on their own. I will also say that this is not Mr. Damon Gough's fault. He is writing a soundtrack, and the recurring melodies and lyrics throughout the 15 tracks really do work well to create a highly unified piece.
The songs that include lyrics and are long enough to be considered a true song, are of high quality. The first track is a great instrumental, piano focused opener, and the title track is one of the strongest, with beautiful acoustic guitar picking and orchestration. The third song
All The Trimmings is another gorgeous instrumental with a climax towards the end of the song when strumming acoustic guitars make their entrance.
Perhaps the strongest song on the album is the ballad
Welcome Me To Your World, yet another song that features Damon's piano playing, as well as powerful trumpets, and that includes the peak of the entire album in it's minute and a half ending. Damon's voice sounds the best it does panned strong to the left, singing a repeating chorus of "If you need me now / I'd do anything / just say that you need me now / it would mean everything."
Is There Nothing We Could Do? is definitely a worthwhile purchase, though less rabid fans may want to just seek out specific tracks. Is it his finest album? No. Does it contain some truly beautiful music? Yes. Fans who especially enjoy melodic piano pop tunes will fall in love with the music. It gives me hope for the future of Badly Drawn Boy music and I am looking forward to a regular album release in the future (he is supposedly working on it).
And if he tours the US east coast...I'll go apeshit.
Key Tracks:
Welcome Me To Your World, Is There Nothing We Could Do?

Is There Nothing We Could Do? - Badly Drawn Boy album review