Sleepy Folk
James Yorkston seems to be lauded as the kind of act that any intelligent music connoisseur should appreciate, his balmy folk style allows rich, rural tales to unfurl slowly, allowing you to savour every taste. Unfortunately for some, this leisurely pace will be a little too dreamy and not contain enough action, but each to their own.
Tracks like, 'Someplace Simple' and 'Moving Up Country, Roaring The Gospel' seem to bumble along, allowing the listener to zone out perhaps a little too much; the soft-spoken vocals could be to blame for this as it's often hard to make out what Yorkston is intoning, even the banjo's steely sound is easier to pick out than the languid vocals. 'Seven Streams' uses warm brass to add a fuzzy feeling of happiness to the mid-tempo tune that seems to wind its merry way, reminiscing over past relationships and friendships. 'The Lang Toun' vividly recounts the intimacies of a relationship with aggressive steely guitar riffs cutting threateningly into the otherwise dreamy tune, unfortunately taking a good few minutes to introduce a fairly average mix of backing melodies doesn't make it a gripping listen.
Yorkston's honest tunes are a pleasure to hear, but the small town feel begins to get a little tiring around the half way mark and you hope for some action: a barn fire, a yard dance, anything! Thankfully, 'The Hills And The Heath' does pick up the pace a little with sparkling guitar riffs and skittering percussion before, 'Song To The Siren' offers a heartfelt tune that could be appreciated by all. The simple woozy celtic charm is great with sighing violins, which seem to mimick the reedy sound of Yorkston's voice. Traditional tune 'Blue Bleezin' Blind Drunk' follows the equally Gallic tradition of excessive drinking, it's a brooding melody that swaggers lazily. Unfortunately neither 'Blue Bleezin' Blind Drunk', nor 'Song To The Siren', two of the stand out tunes from the album were written by Yorkston, but his interpretations are clearly interesting enough.
If you come from a sleepy village anywhere in the UK, although Scotland is clearly ideal, then 'Roaring The Gospel' will cause you to overflow with homesickness, but otherwise this album is quite hard to comprehend, at least when you listen to its entirety in one go. While the tunes are pleasant enough, they simply lack anything interesting or any change of dynamics to hook the listeners in, 'Roaring The Gospel' is one to lull you into sunny daydreams rather than the backing to summer parties.