Would it be CMAT if I wasn't just sporadically jumping in to share news I'm excited about?
Just over eight years ago, I was working on a Stornoway show at Oxford's New Theatre - the last date on their farewell tour. It was triumphant, emotional... they were bowing out on top, for sure - I wrote about it here. Thankfully, the split was short lived, and they're back and better than ever and I've had a brilliant couple of years following them around to some beautiful shows.
On noticing the anniversary of the gig, I messaged Oli, who told me that the band had some news coming, which they'd never have imagined would happen to them all those years ago. I'd just seen Bear's Den at Royal Albert Hall, had a little gush about that and got to thinking what on earth the Storno news could be...
Cut to a few days later and.... oh.
Stornoway are only going and headlining the Royal Albert Hall next March.
Wait - what?!!!!!!!!
As you can probably imagine, I am ridiculously excited for this show, which the band have described as once-in-a-lifetime, and 'a journey from sea to summit'.
"What an honour and a privilege it will be to perform at the country’s most esteemed venue. We will be celebrating our 20th Anniversary with the most special and unique show we’ve ever done, including some very special guests and songs from our career so far. We are going to bring the outside inside, filling the hall with nature, taking you on a wild, musical journey from the open sea through marshes, woodlands and up into the mountains."
Back for my monthly blog post (sorry - I'm trying!!!) with news from this week of some
excellent records on the way. I'll try and come back to ramble excitedly about
new Christof van der Ven (!!!) and the debut from
Jacob Alon but for now - news from friends of the blog and
one of my favourite bands Low Island. Their new album
bird is busy making its spring migration and will be available to
listen to from 29th May - I cannot wait!!!
The album announcement comes with new track and video spit it out which is below (and, as always, superb).
If you like what you're hearing and want to experience it in the round during album release week, the band are playing a few shows in Bristol, London, Brighton, Manchester and Oxford - tickets here. It has been far too long since I saw them live so I'm hoping I can make one of these or another show later in the year!
I've been feeling a little rough lately (haven't we all?!) and those best laid plans of writing more posts here haven't quite come to fruition yet, but I've been enjoying this new one from Flyte and wanted to share. The duo's first new music of the year, I'm Not There is a taster of more to come from a record made with producer Ethan Johns at his home studio and is just beautifully vintage Flyte. I adore them.
On the process of creating the new track, Will shares:
Although regular therapy and the ever-enlightening practice of songwriting has helped me immensely over the years, a lack of self-love, self-forgiveness, and the baggage of family trauma still hangs around - sometimes heavily.
This song was written under a particularly dense cloud, with a rainy brain. I was draining my subconscious, not present in the slightest. From the few times we’ve played this song live, it’s been noteworthy how male leaning people of all ages have been quick to tell us about their immediate connection to it - make of that what you will.
What may also be interesting to some is that it’s a fully live performance, cut right at the start of the album recording session. We played it once and once only, and that’s all the listener hears bar a single piano added later. Nick, Ethan and I hadn’t played as this trio before and you can hear us introducing ourselves to each other, figuring the whole thing out as we played. Ethan, as well as being a sensational producer/engineer is an experienced, emotionally intelligent drummer, which provided a safety net that allowed us to step blindly into the performance with no preparation.
It’s taught us that there, in that risky place, is where the truth is most easily coaxed out of us.
"Those who matter won't mind and those who mind don't matter."
Completely and utterly haunting and beautiful, this one. Tara Nome Doyle is back with Lighthouse, taken from newly announced album Ekko, due via FatCat Records on 11th April. The track is currently sitting atop my acoustic/folk/chilled playlist for the year alongside songs from Hayden Thorpe, lilo and Martin Luke Brown and I can't get enough of it.
On the track, Tara shares: "I wrote ‘Lighthouse’ for a friend who was going through a difficult time. I saw myself in her struggles to please everyone while neglecting her own needs. This song is meant to be a warm embrace, offering reassurance and gentle encouragement. The mantra ‘those who matter won’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter’ has guided me through my lowest moments, and it felt meaningful to share it through this song. I hope it reaches someone who needs to hear it, remember it and repeat it."
All hail our indie-folk king, Christof van der Ven. A long-time firm favourite artist of the blog and a generally lovely person, I'm always delighted when he shares some new music. This morning I found new track rock salt / driftwood waiting for me on my morning commute and very much enjoyed, before taking a dive into his recent releases. What's In It For remains a beaaaaaut of a track.
The new one follows recent tracks polaroid and For The Ages and is taken (I think... optimistically) from an as yet unannounced new album, which I'm expecting might arrive later this year. (I can speak it into existence, right?)
If the live video above whets you're appetite, Christof is headed out on tour in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and England in May, with a show at London's Sebright Arms on 8th May. Full dates and tickets are available here.
While I'm here, I also have to direct your attention to this stunning performance of We Didn't Know We Were Ready from Christof, Ólafur Arnalds, The Staves, Memorial, Dermot Kennedy, Niamh Regan and more on RTÉ in honour of their friend Eoin French, who released music as Talos. Truly one of the most moving things I've seen in a long time.
It is rather blustery out there, so I don't know about you, but I'm hunkering down with books and music for the day. Where better to start than with this latest track from Samantha Crain - Ridin' Out The Storm. It may be in fact be sponsored by the current UK weather. Maybe.
On the track, Samantha shares: "I was watching this TV show called “The Great” one night and this one line caught me. I’m sure it is based on some older, canonical text but, basically, it was this: “Let it go. It is a storm. They will never stop coming, but pass through and away. They always will.” To me, that seemed like the best way I could sum up the gist of living and I wanted to write an expansive song about how that has played out in my life.”
I love Samantha's music and it is great to have her releasing new songs into the world - and better still, she's headed out on tour soon! She's just announced a 2025 US tour with a few UK/EU dates sprinkled in - full list of tour dates and tickets are here.
Goodness, where did the year go? I've been really struggling to find much time for the blog recently (so if you're reading this, I appreciate you sticking around) - it turns out that managing a bookstore is a fairly time consuming thing. Who knew?! I'm still here though (and the blog is now on Bluesky if you're that way inclined) and still falling for so much gorgeous new music.
About a year ago, I went to see Bear's Den at the stunning Union Chapel (coincidentally the next show I have lined up is Stornoway in the same venue - I can't wait!) The Den did a run of a few nights there, with a different opening act each night. On the night I went it was Jacob Alon, a pretty spectacular solo artist with an acoustic guitar, angel wings (no, really) and an angelic voice to match. I adored their set - and was delighted to see that they've recently shared their first couple of singles. I just had to come here and share Confession - I'm a tad obsessed.
Don't just take my word for how brilliant the track is, and Jacob - they're already counting Jools Holland and Elton John as fans with recent appearances on their TV and radio shows respectively. Impressive stuff!
Indulge me while I write about a really exciting event I attended last week, won’t you?
At the moment it seems as if about 50% of my social calendar is taken up by
various events involving Johnny Flynn and/or Robert Macfarlane, and
last week I had the incredibly good fortune of attending their book launch.
Or, more accurately, of blagging my way onto the guestlist… those joint
bookshop manager and music blogger perks coming to the fore for me!
Robert Macfarlane, Emily Sutton and Mouse
The duo have just published, via Magic Cat, a gorgeous picture book
version of The World To Come, a song from their collaborative album
Lost In The Cedar Wood, illustrated magnificently by Emily Sutton. It was a joy to be there
to celebrate the publication day with Johnny, Rob and Emily, in a room full of so much
love.
I’ve been a fan of Johnny for such a long time, and after his recent
Hammersmith Apollo show I found myself reflecting that he might
actually be my favourite all round artist. I adore his music, and his writing
therein, I’ve enjoyed various TV and film performances of his, scores and radio
adaptations, and have been moved to tears (lots of them) by his performances
on the theatre stage. I don't think there is another artist whose work I’ve enjoyed so much
across so many mediums, and who beyond all of that seems to be a generally
good egg.
In a roundabout way, my love of Johnny’s music was the catalyst that started
me on the road to caring far more deeply about nature, and particularly about
nature writing as a genre. I happened across a copy of
Dara McAnulty’s book Diary Of A Young Naturalist, and took a
chance on it based almost entirely on the fact that there was a passage of
Johnny’s track Bottom Of The Sea Blues in the back of the book. I loved
the book and started to head out on walks and to look for birds wherever I
could find them. It was through an interview with Dara that I first really
found Robert. There are some mycelium-like connections drawing all of these
brilliant people together, I’m sure.
I started to explore Rob’s work, notably losing myself in Underland and
falling for The Lost Words, and the news of his collaboration with
Johnny was incredibly welcome. The Lost In The Cedar Wood album was an
immediate favourite, and the album I’ve listened to most across the past four
years (thanks last.fm for that statistic). Arriving when it did, the album
acted as a shining light through a fairly dark time, and it is a beautiful
collection of tracks that continues to mean a lot to me.
Fast forward a couple of years, through meeting both Johnny and Rob at a few
different events, a few of which I’ve written about here, through a second
collaborative album, and we’re entering exciting new territory - a book! The
book lover and bookseller in me was ridiculously excited at the news that
first album track The World To Come was to be made into a children’s
book, with the lyrics of the song sitting alongside illustrations by
Emily Sutton.
On the surface it is a fairly simple project - song becomes book, and takes on
a new life, finding itself a new audience. Delve in and you’ll find that the song, and
now the story, has a beautiful meaning, and Emily’s art brings it to life so
magically. I got sent an early copy by the publisher, and took a first read
while listening to the song. I cried, of course I did.
As you can imagine, I was absolutely thrilled to get the opportunity to attend
the launch. I dashed across from work, hopping on a train from bookshop to
bookshop, braving the many stairs and finding my way to the fifth floor of Waterstones Piccadilly, to a room buzzing with
activity and excitement, and a few familiar faces. A couple of minutes after
arriving I met Susan Cooper, author of children’s classic
The Dark Is Rising, which I read last year after Rob & Johnny
worked on a radio dramatisation of the story.
I had hoped there might be music, but was not expecting to be treated to a
small set from Johnny and a small band, unplugged and just in front of me - a
far cry from the Hammersmith show just last month. I even locked eyes with
Emily’s dog Mouse during The Water... evening made all over again. The
set ended with a spot of karaoke, with Rob leading us on ‘big lyric sheet’
duty, while the band (now brilliantly joined by Johnny’s son Gabriel on guitar
and an assortment of children on percussion) played a superbly wild and joyous
rendition of The World To Come. If you’d like a taste, I posted a
clip of the song
to my instagram page here, which I think captures just some of the electric atmosphere in the room.
A signing followed, and the room continued to buzz with love and excitement
for the project.
I’ve already sold a couple of copies of the book in my shop, and can’t wait to
continue doing so across the festive period and beyond. If you’re a fan of
Johnny, Rob or Emily you’ll find a lot to love here - whether you’ve a child
in your life to buy the book for or just want to treat yourself. It is
generally lovely to look at, and such a beautiful and tangible representation
of this most lovely of creative friendships between Rob and Johnny, and of
Johnny’s relationship with his son. A relatable story, an appreciation of
nature and the changing seasons, and encouragement for us to hold onto hope of
a world to come. I adore it, and I hope you will too.
If you’d like to hear Rob talking about The World To Come, he’ll be at
London’s Southbank Centre on Saturday 26th October in a family friendly
event.
Tickets are available here.
While I'm at it - Hayden Thorpe just released Ness, essentially a musical adaptation of Rob's book of the same name. I'd recommend a listen!
Now, I’m off to find a blackbird perched in a silver birch.
The World To Come is available wherever you get your books - get yourself to your local bookshop (it is Bookshop Day this Saturday, after all!) - and is for sale online here.
Sitting pretty at the top of my latest playlist update alongside tracks from Leif Vollebekk, Laura Marling and Matilda Mann - something altogether brilliant....! Nottingham quartet Divorce have just shared All My Freaks, the first single from their upcoming debut album Drive to Goldenhammer, due via Gravity / Capitol on 7th March 2025. I've been loving this group for a couple of years now, through a string of brilliant singles launching themselves onto the scene, and the marvellous Heady Metal EP. I'm all sorts of excited that they've got an album on the way, and I can't wait to hear more.
Talking about the record, the band says: "We’re very proud of Drive to Goldenhammer. We got to make an album the way we wanted to, kept the weird parts in, followed the warmth and didn’t overthink it. This album pays homage to seeking place and home; one of the great human levellers. Much of life feels at odds with this particular need. And to Goldenhammer; you are a reason to keep driving. We will find you again and again!"
On the new track All My Freaks the band add: "Being a musician can be brutal. I feel like you hear more and more songs coming from artists purely about the trials and tribulations of being a musician, feeling like you aren’t getting enough, or feeling like you’ve got too much and you don’t deserve it. It’s gotten a bit meta if you think about it. All My Freaks is about that too, written from the perspective of a humorous/tragic caricature of an up-and-coming artist, this song is laughing at our own egos and yet acknowledging the power that they wield. Putting this out as the first offering from our debut album felt fitting, as we are hypothetically straddling our jet skis and crossing the ocean of delusion to hopefully reach the isle of public approval."
Dropping in with the best news, Samantha Crain is back!!!!!!
She's just shared her first new
original music since 2021 (how time flies?!) in the shape of
Dragonfly and I am absolutely here for it. It's no secret that I
have a soft spot for my mutual loves of music and nature colliding, so a song
about dragonflies? Yes please!
Talking about the inspiration behind the track, Samantha shares: “Dragonflies are an amazing insect. They can fly in all six directions with great efficiency. They have iridescence, which allows them to appear differently depending on the light and polarization around them. They live most of their lives as nymphs, immature, not flying at all, but preparing for the coming moment of flight. They can see 360 degrees around themselves because of their compound eyes.
To me, a dragonfly symbolizes the type of creature I aim to be: flexible and resilient in this ever-changing world that I have no control over, living moment to moment and moving towards potential moments of wisdom and lift–observant in my mind and seeing beyond the limitations of the physical self. This song is an ode to the simple sophistication of the dragonfly and how it mirrors the self-actualization that I have been searching for my whole life.”
BRB, I'm off to re-discover Samantha's back catalogue.
