The first single taken from their forthcoming third album ‘The Year Of The Leopard’, ‘Steady As She Goes’ finds JAMES YORKSTON & THE ATHLETES again cultivating a rare seam of form.
Although it’s been produced by ex-Talk Talk mainstay Paul Webb, it’s not Yorkston’s attempt at minimal post-rock, it’s every bit as recognisable as always. Indeed – like Brian Eno with Talking Heads’ ‘More Songs About Buildings & Food’ – it’s more a case of the producer merely encouraging the band to deliver what they excel in: in this case something sparse, magical and folky, built around Yorkston’s filigree of deft, finger-picked guitar, Reuben Taylor’s sympathetic accordion and a soft, but supple shuffle from the rhythm section. Indeed, in layman’s terms, it’s as sublime and organic as ever.
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Curiously, just to contradict this line of thinking, there’s also a Dolphin Boy ‘remix’ of ‘Summer Song’ on the flip, though the ‘remixing’ appears to amount to little more than adding a subtle breakbeat or two, an overlying smog of organ and additional angelic vocals. It’s hardly the Ministry Of Sound, but for that we should be truly thankful.
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