Campfires in Winter – Ischaemia

Since forming in 2010, the Glasgow-based four-piece have released a clutch of EPs and gigged incessantly around Scotland and the UK, but are only now releasing their first record proper – Ischaemia, named after the medical term for a restriction in the blood supply. You wonder whether there’s something a touch knowing about that title, an extended metaphor for the band’s protracted journey to this point.

Back when they started out, indie rock frontmen singing in a thick Scottish brogue were all the rage; even if they’re not quite as de rigeur now, Campfires in Winter continue to invite comparison with the likes of Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad as much for their sonic landscapes as they do for Robert Canavan’s vocals. The influence of the latter is especially prescient, especially on Janus and Free Me from the Howl, both exercises in nervy atmospherics, and both standout moments on an otherwise uneven album.

By the midpoint, Ischaemia is already beginning to feel like much of a muchness; on Eating All the Bodies, you can see most of the twists before they actually happen, from the distorted guitars dropping in and out between verse and chorus to Canavan’s increasingly fraught performance in the booth. Compositionally, these are not bad songs, but they’re not wildly original either, and we’ve already heard the likes of maudlin piano ballad The Sky is Taking on Light done with more conviction elsewhere.

What you suspect will be crucial to Campfires in Winter’s future is just how well these tracks translate to the live arena, where they’ve plenty of potential – the mournful brass on the slow simmer of an outro to the epic With a Ragged Diamond being a case in point. Otherwise, though, you wonder whether they’ve missed the boat; Ischaemia is not a bad record, but it probably needed to be better than OK.

Listen to: Janus, Free Me from the Howl