Taken from his latest album The Route To The Harmonium, his first solo album since 2014’s Cellardyke Recording And Wassailing Society, James Yorkston has shared a video for The Irish Wars of Independence.
One of the three spoken word pieces on the album, ‘The Irish Wars of Independence’ is not directly political, though politics and religion are both on the receiving end of Yorkston’s tongue. “I was not caught up in the Irish wars of Independence,” he deadpans, at the thrum of the song’s opening. “Except by the noose of a religion, hung around the neck of a gullible schoolboy.”
Elsewhere, the song explores his many boyhood summers in West Cork, looking back on what he calls ‘the dream of childhood’. It’s first person, hypnotic, and sounds like non-fiction – though listeners would be wise to avoid literal interpretations. The playful, the imaginative, are always present. “When I was a child, I met the devil in Ireland / Did I ever tell you that my love? / It may just explain my transitory ways”. In that line, many possibilities lurk and that is one of Yorkston’s great skills, to be able to portrait a character, a life, in a single line.
As quoted from Thomas Blake’s Folk Radio review, the song “links Yorkston’s own youth with wider history against swathes of lush psych-folk, and Yorkston Athletic is a salty, squally monologue: a quasi-historical document and seafarer’s ode all at once.” The video was directed by Yorkston himself.
On James Yorkston’s podcast, he recently recorded a special on The Route To The Harmonium with guests Phill Jupitus and Stephen Marshall. Listen below:
Upcoming James Yorkston live shows
2nd May – Summerhall, Edinburgh Tickets
3rd May – Òran Mór, Glasgow Tickets
4th May – Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine Tickets
5th May – Waiting Room, Eaglescliffe Tickets
6th May – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds Tickets
7th May – Islington Assembly Hall, London Tickets
8th May – Reading Arts Centre, Reading Tickets
9th May – Gallery, Milton Keynes Tickets
10th May – Dukes, Lancaster Tickets
11th May – Launderette, Durham Tickets
13th May – Louisiana, Bristol Tickets
14th May – The Moon, Cardiff Tickets
15th May – The King’s Arms, Manchester Tickets
16th May – Trades Hall, Hebden Bridge Tickets
24th May – Tolbooth, Stirling Tickets
http://www.jamesyorkston.co.uk/the-route-to-the-harmonium/
Photo Credit: Ren Rox