Last year, James Yorkston teamed up with The Second Hand Orchestra, a Swedish collective led by Karl-Jonas Winqvist that includes Peter Morén from Peter, Bjorn and John, nyckelharpa player Cecilia Österholm for The Wide, Wide River, described in our review as ‘another career highlight’. Almost two years to the day, James Yorkston will follow-up on that collaboration with The Great White Sea Eagle (13 January 2023 via Domino Records) which finds him reunited with the Second Hand Orchestra and guest singer Nina Persson (The Cardigans).
There is space all over this album – thinking space, breathing space – space to be interpreted by the musicians and also by listeners. It is a minimal aesthetic that owes something to the determined restraint of krautrock, but its effect here is inclusive and intriguing.
Thomas Blake on The Wide, Wide River.
Despite the connection to the last album, we’re told that The Great White Sea Eagle did not actually start life as a follow-up, instead, the songs on this album began while Yorkston was visiting his studio in Cellardyke, Fife and for the first time, starting to write songs on the piano as opposed to his usual guitar as he gazed upon the sea outside his window.
After sending the first five or six songs to the above-mentioned Karl-Jonas Winqvist, they began to discuss working on the music together. With Yorkston’s shift from guitar to piano, they thought about what other changes they could make to their process which led to the involvement of a guest singer and the legendary Nina Persson was brought into the fold.
They followed the same methodology as The Wide, Wide River – apart from James, Nina and KJ, none of The Second Hand Orchestra had heard the music prior to entering the studio – and the arrangements were made up on the spot.
Yorkston summarises: “Everyone who was playing in The Second Hand Orchestra, in their own way they are all unique and colourful players. There was no-one there who didn’t know what to do. I would bring them the songs, we would start one – I would play it, and second time round people would start singing and playing, and by the time we had done it three or four times we would hit record and we would be ready to go. And the thing that they all had was the ability to give each other space and to come up with their parts based on what other people were playing naturally was a very quick process, and they were all so open, nobody was egotistical. Everything was just happy. I love the wildness in it.”
Today, they release the first song from the forthcoming album, “Hold Out For Love”, a kind of Fife-gospel anthem with Yorkston and Persson’s vocals interwoven together over the lyrics: “You’ll have no regrets / If you hold out for love / Don’t sell yourself short / For the sake of a moment.”
James Yorkston, Nina Persson and The Second Hand Orchestra were joined by Philip Selway (Radiohead) to record a live version of the song, directed by Dah Dah Dit.
Stream and Save the album version here: https://jamesyorkston.ffm.to/holdoutforlove
The album focuses on life and grief, family and nature and, includes a song for Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison titled “A Sweetness In You”.
The Great White Sea Eagle follows the release of Yorkston’s second novel The Book of the Gaels, recently declared Book of the Month in The Times.
The Great White Sea Eagle Tracklisting
1. Sam And Jeanie McGreagor
2. An Upturned Crab
3. Keeping Up With The Grandchildren, Yeah
4. The Heavy Lyric Police
5. A Sweetness In You
6. A Forestful Of Rogues
7. Peter Paulo Van Der Heyden
8. Mary
9. Hold Out For Love
10. The Harmony
11. The Great White Sea Eagle
12. A Hollow Skeleton Lifts A Heavy Wing
James Yorkston, Nina Persson and members of The Second Hand Orchestra will be heading out on UK tour next February, additionally, Yorkston has a string of solo dates and two Scandinavian shows with Nina Persson to round out the year.
Upcoming live dates
9th November – Gartmore Village Hall, Stirling *
11th November – Beat Generator, Dundee *
9th December – Claypath Delicatessen, Durham * (sold out)
10th December – The Railway, Winchester *
11th December – Florence Park Community Centre, Oxford *
12th December – Kitchen Garden, Birmingham *
13th December – The Smokehouse, Ipswich *
16th December – Rönnells Antikvariat, Stockholm ^
17th December – Folk Å Rock, Malmö ^
1st February – The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen ~
3rd February – Summerhall, Edinburgh ~
4th February – Celtic Connections, Glasgow ~
5th February – Future Yard, Birkenhead ~
6th February – Jazz Café, London ~
7th February – YES, Manchester ~
8th February – The Trades Club, Hebden Bridge ~
9th February – Warwick Arts Centre, Warwick ~
10th February – Louisiana, Bristol ~
11th February – St Stephens in the High Street, Exeter ~
12th February – Komedia Theatre, Brighton ~
* = solo show
^ = James Yorkston and Nina Persson
~ = James Yorkston, Nina Persson and members of The Second Hand Orchestra
Tickets
The Great White Sea Eagle is available to preorder on limited edition Dinked vinyl (oxblood coloured with a bonus track on flexi disc), Dom Mart/indies edition vinyl (dark green coloured vinyl), standard vinyl, CD and digitally.