Scottish New Music Round-up: November 2024

We’ve had a lot to catch up on in the Scottish music scene – it was a saintly September with songs from St Clements (Precious Little Time) and Saint Sappho (M.A.D.), as well as a new EP from Sara Rae (Passenger Side). In October we enjoyed singles from Lauren Mayberry (Something In the Air), Nama Kuma (Frequencies), Dutch Wine (If I Fall Through the Ceiling), Becky Sikasa (I don't have words), Fourth Daughter (Hybrid), Danko (Losing Your Mind), Goodnight Louisa (Grace Jones), Supermann on da Beat (Deli ft. Hannymoon) and Megan Black (Something Golden), new albums from Swiss Portrait (Someday) and Snowgoose (Descendant) and a new EP from Psweatpants (2LeftFeet). Follow our Music Now playlist on Spotify for everything that doesn’t make it into the column.

For something to get excited about in November, Auntie Flo is back in town. The SAY Award-winning DJ/producer has been busy since the release of his 2018 album Radio Highlife, starting a 24-hour radio station and launching his own label with a record of mushroom-programmed electronic music. Now, everyone’s favourite Auntie, aka Brian d’Souza, is back in flight with In My Dreams (I’m a Bird and I’m Free), out 21 November. The suitably titled album contains ten tracks of world music, field recordings, and spoken word performance, crafting a lively libretto that transports listeners to somewhere far-off and carefree.

Expect dance hits made of wood chimes and synth stings, each one capturing its own sense of place. Green City is a beat originally based on a field recording in Nairobi, çatlak patlak contains Turkish lyrics and a pipes-driven melody, and Aker the Lion God is an ambient techno track that invokes its Ancient Egyptian namesake. If Scotland’s drizzly November gets you down, Auntie Flo will be able to take you around the world with the speed of the nighthawks and sandpipers referenced in his tracklistings.

If you can’t wait for that, expect to be uplifted on 15 November with the release of Peace Cult, the second album by indie outfit Jill Lorean. The trio’s titular singer/songwriter (real name Jill O'Sullivan) and Hen Hoose member has teamed up with Frightened Rabbit instrumentalist Andy Monaghan and drummer Pete Kelly for a compilation of folk-rock hits. The songs are built on guitar riffs, some bluesy and some brash, and occasionally backed by slightly trad sounds (strings on Paradise; harmonica on Roman Walls), but it’s the sweeping, ethereal vocals of O'Sullivan herself that lends the record a slight folk sensibility. Peace Cult, like the name suggests, is an album that explores ideas of community and harmony, and is certain to cheer you up as the days get shorter.

Beth Malcolm. Credit: Magnus Graham.

With the release of Beth Malcolm’s FOLKMOSIS on the 18th, there’s never been a better autumn to give our more old-school musical genres a spin. 2022’s BBC MG Alba Scots Singer of the Year has scribed a full-bodied folk album, with a backing band of fiddle, accordion, clarsach, bodhrán and more. Malcolm’s transformative interpretations of ancient anthems like Edward and Bonnie Glenshee are played between newer flavours (see Little Lows and Ghosted providing R’n’B notes between the reels). The highly narrative spoken word interludes craft a world of auld wifeys and bairns going guising on Halloween, blended with Malcolm’s modern point-of-view, championing Amy Winehouse on To Glasgow and visiting The Captain’s Bar in Edinburgh; Malcolm’s album sharply defines music as a gift from the past, and an especially good one for present times.

It’s also a good month for EPs – Katherine Aly has swapped out her backing band for backup dancers, launching a new pop-heavy sound on 222. Aly’s flirty foray into the world of disco beats and diss tracks is all about dating, from the friendzoned to the Freudian. From first dates to the (new) New Romantics, melancholy synth-pop trio Thundermoon release We Can Do Better Than This (8 Nov). Sarah Jane Scouten releases Transmutations, an EP of acoustic performances of her hits from Turned to Gold (11 Nov). Disappointment Is My Expectation, the new EP by Shuna Lovelle (20 Nov), gets a full review in the November issue, as does kitti’s Somethin’ In the Water (15 Nov), the latest album on Rebecca Vasmant’s label Rebecca's Records, and our album of the month. 

If you’re desperate to get some listening done before Bonfire Night, two albums drop on the 1st; Holocene is a hardcore dark ambient effort by Edinburgh-based Exterior; and for a dose of breathy psychedelia, check out Apprentice Green from Isle of Lewis-based composer flakebelly. On 8 November, Glaswegian ambient duo Cahill//Costello release their latest collaborative record Cahill//Costello II, and there are new albums from legendary Scottish bands Primal Scream (Come Ahead, 8 Nov) and Dominic Waxing Lyrical (Diminuet, 22 Nov). Plus, make sure to check out new singles from Alice Faye (1 Nov), Constant Follower (7 Nov), waverley. (13 Nov) and Jewel Scheme (15 Nov).