I have to admit that I’ve been a little late to jump on the Noah and the Whale bandwagon – but now that I’ve listened to their 2008 release Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down 500 times this year, I’m a card carrying fan club member of NatW. I still cry as I quote the lyrics to “Five Years Time” to friends (I’ve even managed to forget how much the instrumental refrain was played as a the soundtrack to a Saturn commercial). It was one of my favorite albums of 2008 even though I didn’t know it until 2009.

Now I hear that the band not only have a new album entitled The First Days of Spring coming out in October, but they will also be releasing a coordinating film of the same name which runs the same length as the record. The film marks the directorial debut of Noah-singer Charlie Fink who explains:

The film was shot on a miniscule budget in a tight time-frame and can be seen as a companion piece to the album, as a visual version of it, or as a piece of work in its own right but this decision is one which Noah and the Whale have decided to leave up to the listener and viewer.

The film was shot on location in London and Surrey with an ensemble cast that includes model Daisy Lowe. Here’s a trailer for the film / album.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQAep-tJqJw]

With lines like “This is the last song that I write while still in love with you,” which prey on my “Five Years Time” heart, I’m left pretty excited to see / hear the full thing.