This release marks James Yorkston’s sixth full-length LP of original material, his last release was 2012’s I Was A Cat From A Book. With collaborations aplenty, nothing much has changed on first listen – the record seems to naturally follow suit in that dreamy, soothing way that we have grown to love.
Yorkston has consistently been able to create a very specific mood through his ability to storytell with the world that he draws the listener into - images of a gloomy, insignificant Scottish town dance around your subconscious, and the feeling of being trapped within the obsolete.
His relationship with his children is also touched upon, along with the everyday heartbreak of just being a human being, toiling with the push and pull of responsibility, whilst desperately still trying to hold onto the notion- only if for a second – of being free.
An appearance from Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor on the production side is a wonderful interjection of something a little different to the record. ‘Guy Fawkes Signature’ is a spoken word piece – with the gentle tones of fellow Scott KT Tunstall, Taylor’s Hot Chip-esq steel drums pirouetting in the background. Other appearances include The Pictish Trail, Emma Smith and a little more from Tunstall.
CRAWS is 16 tracks long, a perfect treat for those music fans who enjoy to wallow and slowly digest in an album, returning again and again, whilst more and more of the essence of the record becomes clearer. It’s an incredibly comforting yet sombre creation, and is worth your full attention.
No comments:
Post a Comment