James Yorkston - When The Haar Rolls In

James Yorkston's new album is, on first listen, a much more straightforward affair than its sublime predecessor, 2006's The Year of The Leopard. But like the haar itself this is merely an illusion, because it's full of rich instrumentation and quietly devastating lyrical turns - with flourishes that will appear over repeated listens and floor you with their unexpected beauty. As ever, Yorkston has an uncanny knack of stirring those deep mysterious oceans within the soul with a well-chosen turn of phrase or subtle melody. The title track swells and retreats like a midnight tide and The Queen of Spain swaggers with the magnificent romance of a wedding ceremony aboard a storm-tossed trawler; Tortoise Regrets Hare is a Darwinian reverie, whilst the cover of Lal Waterson's Midnight Feast is performed by Yorkston and members of Waterson's family with all the passion you'd expect of such folk royalty. [Milo McLaughlin]