Skerryvore – Evo
Tyree Records – 11 June
Few would deny that Skerryvore are one of the best live bands on the circuit, twice winning Live Act of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards is a testament to that. But the release of EVO, their sixth studio album, is a very firm reminder that they’re just as much at home in the recording studio. There’s been a clear progression to their recordings, initially using just their own arrangements of largely traditional material, they gradually included more of their own compositions, both songs and instrumentals, until 2012’s, World of Chances, which was entirely self-penned. With EVO their own material sits alongside two covers, giving nods to composers they respect. They’re marking their own awareness of this growing maturity with the title, EVO, using it as an abbreviation of ‘evolution’ and, as they write in a sleeve note, an indicator of “gradual, progressive change”.
EVO opens and closes with tracks that are characteristically Skerryvore. The Exorcists starts spookily enough on Alan Scobie’s keyboards, as befits the title, but soon the pipes, whistle and accordion party is in full swing and the only spirits disappearing are, or rather were, in bottles. This opening track pairs The Exorcists, a Martin Gillespie tune, with Donnie’s, composed by Scott Wood. So, from the outset, we’re given a broadside from the latest addition to Skerryvore’s armoury. With Scott’s official addition to the line-up in June last year, following Martin going public with his focal dystonia diagnosis, the Skerries became a two Highland pipes outfit and the effect is dramatic, both in their live performances and on this opening track.
The closing instrumental sequence starts by revealing a very different side to the band and to the lead instrument, the accordion. Soraidh Slán is a gentle slow air composed and performed by Martin commemorating loved ones lost in 2017. It’s just over two minutes of delightful tranquillity, ended when Alec Dalglish’s guitar riff takes over and the band launches into the pipes-driven crescendo of The Rise, also composed by Martin. In contrast to the band’s last two studio albums, EVO has a more even split between instrumentals and songs, Craig Espie contributes Mile High a set of two tunes that start with his fiddle alongside Fraser West on snare drum before the melody is picked up by whistles. For the second tune of the set, Momentum, it’s the pipes that once again drive on. The final instrumental track is the band’s cover of the late Gordon Duncan’s lively jig, Trip to Modera, their salute to a piper who truly broke the mould with both his compositions and his playing. It’s inevitable that any description of tunes focuses on the lead instruments but they simply wouldn’t work without the backline musicians and in drummer Fraser West, bass player Jodie Bremaneson and Alan Scobie on keyboards, Skerryvore have three of the best. Alan also takes the production credit on EVO as he has on all but the first two of the band’s albums.
Over the years, Alec Dalglish has been the source for the great majority of Skerryvore’s songs and five are included on this album. Live Forever, though, has been part of the band’s live repertoire for the last couple of years and here appears as a remix of the version that has been available as a download. It’s a real crowd pleaser with a very singable chorus and, for those too shy or congenitally unable to sing, the shouted repeat of the last words of its two lines, ‘forever’ and ‘together’, ensures that everyone takes part. It’s a near certainty those two words will be echoing around the living rooms of Britain as sales of this album take off.
At the End of the Line is a song from a very different mould. Following on from the instrumental tour de force of The Exorcists, it shows just how skilled Skerryvore are at sculpting texture into their sets, “4000 miles in the sky till the wheels hit the ground”, that’s the touring musician feeling more than a twinge of homesickness and with a chorus that starts “Paradise is where your people are” you know that this is a song for lonesome people everywhere. It’s not the Skerryvore style, though, to dwell too much on such things and the remaining songs have a determinedly optimistic outlook. All the songs have well-crafted lyrics and those words are given room within the arrangements to make their lasting impression. Consequently, it’s Alan’s keyboards that often come to the fore, a simple, repeated piano riff sets the scene for At the End of the Line while the love song, Take My Hand, starts with a Hammond organ style backing. But Skerryvore never neglect their roots and, as the song builds, accordion and whistles start to dominate and with lyrics that talk of “on a beach that’s only ours, take my hand and we’ll go dancing” you’ve got to believe they’re thinking back to Tiree, the band’s original home.
Having almost reached the end of this review I see there is one band member who’s not yet been name-checked, accordionist Daniel Gillespie. I suspect he may be quietly pleased about that, a more unassuming front man to a band would be hard to find. But, his accordion is an ever-present backbone to the band’s arrangements and Skerryvore could not have developed into today’s globally touring band without his skills, both on stage and off. As a member of the original quartet, along with Martin, Alec and Fraser, he’s been there every step of the way on Skerryvore’s fairytale journey from the tiny island of Tiree to world domination, long may that journey continue. There’s been a four-year gap since Skerryvore’s last studio album and the quality and mix of material that now appears on EVO shows it has been time well spent. There is a variety and depth to their music that only comes when musicians have learned pretty much all there is to know about each other. The time they’ve spent on the road together over the years provided them with the opportunity and EVO shows they’ve used it wisely.
Evo is out now. Order via Amazon
For upcoming live dates visit http://skerryvore.com/tour/