Friday 1 November 2013

Albums of 2013 - Stornoway - Tales from Terra Firma/You Don't Know Anything

 
 
I love hearing new music. I first heard Stornoway a while ago. They have been in existence since the mid 2000s. They are lyricist, guitarist & Vocalist Brian Briggs, Keyboard player Jon Quinn and the Steadman brothers Oli & Rob on bass and drums respectively. They hail from the Oxford area. Currently a hotbed of fresh new talent.
 
I first heard them when they released their first single, the catchy Zorbing.
 
 

 
 
They released their debut album Beachcomber's Windowsill in 2010 and third single, I Saw You Blink gave them even more admirers.
 

 
 
The debut was full of great pop tunes with a folk leaning and intriguing lyrics.
 
 
 
In February this year I got a chance to see the band at the Pontardawe Arts Centre and they played many of the songs that went on to form their second album Tales From Terra Firma. They played a great set and the new songs sounded splendid. They had taken a big step forward in sound and the songs were more intricate and seemed deeper and more expansive. They released the first single from the album about a month later.
 

 
 
The album garnered great reviews at the time and has proved to have lost none of it's appeal since its early release.
 

 
 
 
The band had so much material that they recorded for Tales... they also released a new mini album with songs that didn't quite fit the feel of Tales... it's called You Don't Know Anything, which sounds just as good as Tales.. and can also be heard on their website.
 
 
 
 
Featuring the lovely artwork of Kirini Kopcke
 
Twitter - @StornowayBand
 
 




3 comments:

  1. Top Band. Like their debut. Need to look into this.
    Knackered! Been trying to remember how to sing then gave up and took Marcus for a curry...

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  2. Good to hear you're back in the studio. Can't wait to hear the results. How about something simple & acoustic Mr J? You look a bit like Scott Walker in the photo. That is if he was a silver fox and dressed in blue rather than black!!

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  3. do love this - Zorbing was my fav single of the yr it was released. Don't think this lp quite reaches the heights of the debut, but still a god one

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