Alpine Jubilee – Fiver on the Favourite (Album Review)

The alternative music group Alpine Jubilee has a new eight-track debut record, Fiver on the Favourite.

The record starts with ‘Just For You’, a song with a piercing harmonica and steady but thick, soft drumming in. The major draw, however, is Alpine Jubilee’s lead singer’s deep, masculine voice. At times this depth is fully on display; at other moments it feels as if he’s pushing against being even deeper or louder, creating an effective sense of tension and contrast.

While the instrumentation is prominent at the beginning, it gradually dips beneath the vocals as the singing takes control. The vocals, more soothing than expressive, do a great deal of work in pulling the listener in. At heart, this is an intimate song, reinforced by the repeated refrain of ‘Just for you’.

The story revolves around a lyrical persona speaking in the first person. It is an expression of future devotion, with the speaker telling an unnamed and underdeveloped addressee what they will do for them (‘I’ll be your number one fan’). Near the end, however, the narrative subtly twists, as the lyrical persona begins to speak as though this devotion now belongs to the past. What’s more, there is a worrying line in which the persona admits that they might have stayed longer, casting a faint shadow over the song’s otherwise gentle intimacy.

The album’s title track marks an energy shift, driven by a rapid percussive pace and a dense arrangement of harmonica and strings. While the vocals retain their characteristic depth, they carry a lighter touch here, moving away from the heavy intimacy of the earlier tracks. The narrative focus shifts from a human subject to a specific locale – Neptune Street. Rather than a linear story, the song offers a rhythmic catalog of the street’s atmosphere. Through a series of vignettes, the lyrical persona captures a sense of local bustle, referencing various figures and landmarks – from the music of The Henchmen to ‘Bertie on the trumpet’ – all centered around the recurring motif of ‘Fiver on the Favourite.’

Beginning with strings and percussion, ‘My Morbid Tone’ emerges as an off-beat track that takes its time to settle. The build is unhurried, allowing the arrangement to gradually reveal itself as a hybrid of electronic reggae and jazz, with what sounds like a saxophone adding warmth and texture. The lead vocals are easier and clearer than on earlier songs, giving the track a relaxed surface that contrasts with what lies beneath.

A&R Factory reviewed ‘My Morbid Tone’, characterizing the vocals as morose, and narratively finding the song ‘As meta as music gets’. As the narration goes, the song is a romance rooted in the music scene, centred on a lyrical persona pursuing an addressee who also moves within that world. The dynamic is marked by imbalance and delay: the speaker confronts the addressee with the line ‘You put me on hold’, signalling a form of unrequited love. This tension animates the song, as the laid-back groove carries the frustration and quiet longing of someone caught waiting for a response that may never come.

Dominated by a lush arrangement of brassy strings, ‘I Wish I Could Drive a Truck Through Your Heart’ maintains a deceptive, laid-back atmosphere. The lead singer’s performance creates an interesting vocal dynamic; while he initially returns to the resonant deepness of the album’s opening, he frequently shifts tempo, causing his voice to shed some of its weight as the pace quickens.

Following the theme of unrequited tension from the previous track, the narrative here introduces a more defined – yet formidable – addressee. The lyrical persona describes them as having a ‘big dark soul,’ a striking and ominous figure of speech. This sets the stage for the song’s central, jarring desire: the wish to drive a truck through the addressee’s heart. It is a forceful, almost violent metaphor for emotional impact, rendered even stranger by the song’s relaxed musical backdrop.

Driven by a ‘jumpy’, off-beat rhythm, ‘Pony Rider’ strikes a compelling balance between high-energy movement and a grounded, string-backed groove. Unlike previous tracks where the lead singer’s delivery shifted with the tempo, here he maintains his resonant vocal depth throughout. This consistency allows him to fully inhabit the groove, resulting in a performance that feels both confident and incredibly catchy. The combination of his steady baritone and the song’s repetitive structure transforms this into the album’s most infectious ‘sing-along’ moment – and arguably its standout track.

Beneath the accessible melody, however, lies a poignant narrative involving three central figures: the lyrical persona, their ‘my lovely’ subject (the Pony Rider), and a third party, Mrs Jones. The persona suggests a troubled origin for the subject, noting that Mrs. Jones ‘made’ the Pony Rider, but the song is colored by a sad undercurrent. This tension stems from the persona’s clear disapproval of how Mrs Jones treats the subject, adding a layer of protective melancholy to an otherwise rhythmic highlight.

Opening with strings and a heavy kick drum, ‘Away and Away’ later includes metallic percussion. The lead singer returns to his deep register, favouring expression over clarity.

Story-wise, the lyrical persona admits, ‘I wish you away’, yet immediately reveals a reluctance to let go.

With ‘Another Way’, you get a mostly string-based song that is deceptively supported by subtle percussion and light whistling. As with several other tracks on the album, the focus here is once again on the lead singer’s deep vocal delivery, which anchors the otherwise gentle arrangement.

A reading of the repeated lines suggests that this is a song about hope and a shift in perspective:

‘We can see it in another way, another way’
‘We can live for another day, another day’

These refrains frame the song as an appeal toward endurance and reconsideration, even as the imagery elsewhere hints at unease. That said, Alpine Jubilee might have benefited from omitting one of the songs in this late stretch of the album, as the similarity between the titles becomes confusing and slightly blurs their individual impact.

‘Non Sei Mai’ serves as an explicit post-mortem of a relationship, though it is colored by a profound sense of shock. While the lyrics state clearly that the connection has ended, the lyrical persona performs with a bewildered air, as if the finality of the breakup was a revelation they were entirely unprepared for.

Sonically, the track moves into more experimental territory. Defined by soft, metallic percussion, a steady kick drum, and a sweeping wash of strings, the arrangement feels more atmospheric than melodic. The vocals are notably sparse, allowing the instrumentation to take center stage and shifting the song into the realm of ambient music.

SCORE/Outstanding: I’ve always been partial to artists with deep vocals, so hearing the lead singer on the opening track immediately caught my attention. That said, the songs that followed were something of a let-down vocally. It often felt as though the singer wasn’t fully committing to the depth of his voice, and for a while, I wasn’t sure whether this restraint was deliberate or simply a missed opportunity.

That uncertainty disappeared with ‘Pony Rider’. The song pulled me in not because it finally catered to my preferences, but because it is, quite simply, a great song. Without it, I doubt I would have arrived at such an enthusiastic final assessment. In my view, ‘Pony Rider’ compensates for much of my earlier criticism and stands out as a rare gem – the track that ultimately pushes the album into outstanding territory.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

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