Last Night on Earth

Audio Mixer: Tom Elmhirst.Recording information: Doghouse Studios; Empire Studios; Hangman Palace Studios; Ruby Red Productions; Sound City; Sunset Sound Studios; The Garden; The Strongroom.Photographer: Autumn de Wilde.On The First Days of Spring, Charlie Fink mourned the absence of ex-girlfriend/ex-bandmate Laura Marling while the rest of Noah & the Whale churned up a sympathetic mix of folk and sad-eyed indie rock. Released two years later, Last Night on Earth finds the band recharged and redirected. "He used to be somebody, now he's someone else. and it feels like heaven," Fink sings on the opening track, a tribute to transformation that doubles as the album's mission statement. Although released during the golden days of England's indie folk scene, Last Night on Earth reaches far beyond the genre, relying heavily on keyboards and leaving the acoustic riffage to Mumford & Sons. Some of the basslines are synthesized instead of plucked, and some of the percussion is programme