It was in 2013 that Scotland’s folk trio The Langan Band (then The John Langan Band) released their debut album Bones Of Contention, an album that was two years in the making and which left quite an impression on FRUK’s Neil McFadyen, who concluded his review: “That a few guys from Glasgow could conspire to create such an immense sound between them is not unprecedented, but to achieve this with such lyrical and instrumental flair is a rare, rare thing.”
It’s been a while, but after ten years, The Langan Band are to release a new album on May 5th – Plight o’ Sheep (pre-save here). The band, composed of singer John Langan, fiddler Alistair Caplin and bassist Dave Tunstall, have been wowing audiences for the last 15 years with their idiosyncratic blend of avant-folk music. The upcoming album, as authentic as it is boundlessly inventive, beautifully captures the spirit of the countless performances that have seen them win the hearts of so many fans and hone their craft over the last fifteen years. The music speaks of their lived experience and skillfully displays the sheer density and depth of the sound achieved by these three people on a stage (or, in this case, a room).
Written by John Langan and arranged by The Langan Band, we have the pleasure of sharing their lead single and album opener, ‘One Whole year‘. It’s also the first song that the band tackled after a long writing hiatus. Mysteriously dedicated to John’s “Plan Z,”. The band says, “The lyrics and melody came from John, and the fact that the we were all able to come together to work on something so close to John’s heart shows the closeness and the trust that exists between us”.
They have lost none of that lyrical and instrumental flare; if anything, their sound has matured. One Whole Year is an ace single to lead on, building from a mournful acoustic opening with Caplin’s violin adding to the sorrow before Tunstall’s bass lifts the whole arrangement to a dance standard that’s sure to go down a treat in a live setting. It’s also our Song of the Day.
Addressing the lengthy gap between 2013’s critically acclaimed Bones Of Contention and Plight o’ Sheep – no small amount of time in the music industry – singer John Langan explains it all: “It’s incredible how fast a decade can pass and how much life can be squeezed into those ten years” and into these ten masterful tracks. After releasing Bones, getting married, having kids, getting divorced, breaking an arm, and living his life trying to make ends meet, John found himself unable to focus on music, all the while hearing “snippets of ideas for songs […] rolling around in [his] head, begging for some time and space to be worked on and heard.” Beginning 2020 with a new agent, an Australian tour and a “lucrative summer planned on [their] return, a funny wee virus [came] along…and we all know what followed.”
Come the summer of 2022, with the support of a new agent, Creative Scotland, and the crowdfunding of over £10,000 from their loyal fans, the band encamped to Black Bay Studio in the Outer Hebrides to get started on a new album of original material. Produced by Pete Fletcher and recorded almost entirely live.
“Recording at Black Bay was an absolute joy. The fact that it was residential and in such a beautiful and remote place meant that we could be completely immersed in the process with zero distractions, apart from the poor weather-beaten sheep bleating outside our bedroom windows.” These sheep are owed some credit for the album, with the eureka moment coming when Alastair and John walked around the Isle of Bernera (upon which sits Black Bay Studio) on a viciously stormy morning and remarked, upon seeing a particularly wind-blown ram struggling to stay upright in the gale, “what a truly miserable existence being a Hebridean sheep must be.” We must certainly agree.
Plight o’ Sheep is self-released on May 5th (CD/Digital – pre-save here)