Scottish new music round-up: May 2021

There are a few big hitters this month from scene veterans like Sharleen Spiteri's Texas and Justin Currie’s Del AmItri, while Idlewild frontman Roddy Woomble returns with his latest solo record, Lo! Soul. But there’s also a heck of a lot of other stuff coming out this month, as the return of live music begins to look like more of a possibility in the not-too-distant future.

First up is Buffet Lunch’s debut album. Recorded just before the country went into its first lockdown last year, The Power of Rocks features more of what we’ve come to love about the Edinburgh four-piece as a multitude of pleasingly nonsensical lyrics share space with an abundance of jangling and twanging guitars, punctured with off-kilter percussion. Due on 7 May, it’s a more than enjoyable and accomplished debut – read our chat with the band here.

Dohnavùr

While Buffet Lunch were recording their debut at the cusp of the pandemic, Edinburgh duo Dohnavùr released theirs, and the pair have remained busy since, with their follow-up LP, The Flow Across Borders, due on 21 May via Castles in Space. Their method of musical collaboration is perhaps perfect for these weird times as every Dohnavùr track comes to life in the same way. Modular artist Alasdair O’May passes on his experimental sounds to producer and multi-instrumentalist Frazer Brown who then morphs them into fully-formed pieces via his knack for contemporary electronics, and the results are a delight. 

The opening two tracks are an excellent introduction to the disparate worlds experienced across the record – New Objectivity (which has also been remixed by The Orb, due 7 May) is ethereal, glimmering and full of hope, with any sign of hope quickly dashed when the ominous throb of Sestriere kicks in. The Kindness of Others oozes the charm of Boards of Canada; Twenty There has us longing for a night out in the sweatiest of clubs, and album midpoint Phlá Doiléir is unsettling with its dystopian squelches and stinging social commentary. Not constrained by genre, The Flow Across Borders is a welcome sonic adventure.

Lift

Also not constrained by genre is music lecturer and normally-touring artist from Aberdeen, Dan Stevenson, who creates music under the moniker Lift. This month sees him release There Is Beauty In Everything, his debut mini-album. Self-described as in the vein of Björk, Bon Iver and Aphex Twin, these influences are apparent, although never plagiarised. There Is Beauty… sounds undeniably unique as Stevenson uses it to explore unconventional music writing techniques following a breakthrough with mental health struggles.

The record features some impressive collaborations too, with Adam Betts (Squarepusher, Colossal Squid, Melt Yourself Down) appearing on Zour, a glorious hypnagogic four minutes of shuffling drums and percussion, beautifully adorned with blurry manipulated vocals. Ian Maciak of Machinedrum also appears on the drum’n’bass-infused Stutter alongside vocalist Finn Le Marinel, whose vocal ability gets a more crisp airing on following track James. The thing that’s so mesmerising about There Is Beauty… is the amount of different ideas explored within each track as genres collide unwittingly, twisting into something new before you’ve even realised what's happened. This record is a breath of fresh air, let it fill your lungs.

Faodail, Poster Paints, reissues

With support so far from Auntie Flo and airplay on BBC Radio 1's Chillest Show, we're thrilled to introduce multi-instrumentalist and producer Callan Marchetti who creates music as Faodail. Finding inspiration in experimental electronica coming out of Nordic countries, his latest EP Madainn (19 May) is a masterclass in blissed-out electronica as it plays with the subtle nuances between light and dark, creating rich textures via way of bubbling bass lines, frosty synths and crisp piano lines.

We’re also excited this month for the debut single from Poster Paints, the new project from Carla J. Easton and Simon Liddell (Frightened Rabbit). Number 1 is a welcome slice of retro sounding jangly pop, with Easton sounding softer, hazier and less toothache-inducing than on her other projects. Due on Olive Grove on 10 May, Number 1 is a superb introduction to this duo and we can't wait to hear more.

On 4 May (Star Wars day), BMX Bandits reissue their seminal Star Wars LP to celebrate its 30th anniversary, while 14 May sees a reissue of Surface Tension, the beautiful solo record from Rob St. John of Modern Studies. A trio of past-SAY Award nominees release new music with WWND (What Would Nova Do?) from 2020 winner NOVA (5 May), Second Lives from Graham Costello's STRATA (7 May) and Holm from Erland Cooper (27 May). And on 14 May a flurry of singles arrive including Aberdeen’s Alex Thom, who releases her debut, Wise Woman; Kilmarnock-based Jonah Eli (The Motion Poets) releases Monolith; wojtek the bear channel The Ronettes on the opening bars of their latest bop one thing’s for certain, and Glasgow sextet Kaputt release a AA-side 7'' (Movement Now / Another War Talk) via Upset the Rhythm.

April releases you may have missed...

Last month was typically busy with, some would say, far too much new music coming out of Scotland, and like most months it was a mixed bag.

Some big releases came in the form of He Said She Said by the oft-anthemic CHVRCHES which sees Lauren Mayberry confronting “the uncomfortable balancing act that is expected of women head-on.” We Were Promised Jetpacks also returned last month with If It Happens, sounding more pop than we’ve ever heard from the Edinburgh now-three-piece, but still unequivocally like Jetpacks.

Scotland’s answer to Amy Winehouse, although that’s perhaps a bit of a lazy descriptor, Glasgow’s Kitti released her dripping-in-soul new single Wonderful World last month, while in Edinburgh electronic duo Maranta released the cosmic disco cut Miss Dupé. Staying in the capital, 21-year-old singer-songwriter Brooke Combe released her hotly-anticipated debut original single, Are You With Me?, while Hamish Hawk premiered another new song, Calls to Tiree, on Steve Lamacq’s BBC 6 Music show, his vocal sounding as rich and velvety as we’ve come to expect. 

Following on from their last single in January, electronic duo Gefahrgeist also returned last month with latest single Parasites, while Paisley’s The Vegan Leather released their first single of the year, the steamrolling Who’s Knocking On My Door?

Eigg metallers Massacre Cave released AN ITCHY FINGER, with accompanying music video, from their GODLUST LP, and folk trio LAPWYNG released The Remyxes, a delightful reimagining of their self-titled debut EP, with remixes from Tom Spirals, INYAL,Yoko Pwno and Valtos.

Elsewhere, four newcomers (to us at least) caught our attention last month. Via new Edinburgh indie label Kraken Records, Perth’s Ged Spread released the infectiously hazy and summer-ready AA-side Rite Thing / The Factory, sounding at times like the disco of Pictish Trail and at others like the bagginess of Aussie’s Jagwar Ma. Lional, a four-piece from the Scottish Highlands inspired by the likes of The Cure and Joy Division released their latest single, Happy Birthday (watch the video here).

Glasgow indie-rock three-piece Dutch Wine released Whisky, the head-bob-worthy single that takes a look at the difficulty that comes of dealing with a broken relationship, while staying in Glasgow Amy Papiransky released her beautiful piano-led ballad, Dear Amy, an emotional and heartfelt letter to her younger self.