Through no fault of his own, JAMES YORKSTON’S music seems to have been stuck with the inevitable ‘nu-folk’ tag, mostly because of his dalliances with fellow Fifers The Fence Collective, and also because of his organic approach to recording and an ability to turn warm, intimate tales of love, land and longing into aural gold.
As with records by talents as diverse as Nick Drake and Talk Talk, though, it’s simply Yorkston’s ability to make blindingly great music that will survive down the years that sets this singular character apart from the pack. And the good news is that with ‘The Year Of the Leopard’ he has made a third great album in a row to follow up the highly-recommended ‘Moving Up County’ and the gentler, but no less resonant ‘Just Beyond The River.’
It’s no co-incidence I should mention Talk Talk either, because their ex-bassist Paul ‘Rustin’ Man’ Webb occupies the producer’s chair here, and veteran engineer Phill Brown – who played an important role in the making of Talk Talk’s remarkable ‘Spirit Of Eden’ album - has teamed up with him to man the console once again. Indeed, both of them stamp a quiet, textural authority on proceedings without ever getting in the way of Yorkston’s roving muse or trying to damp down the Athletes’ natural ability to flesh out their leader’s songs with subtle, but always telling contributions of their own.
Indeed, In the way that Brian Eno simply let Talking Heads be themselves on ‘More Songs About Buildings & Food’, it seems Brown and Webb have simply encouraged Yorkston and his comrades to simply do what they do best at the pace they want and then concentrated on getting it down as organically as possible, ensuring that the vocals are all close-miked and intimate while – on songs like ‘The Brussels Rambler’ – you can hear the squeaking of fingers moving up and down frets only too clearly.
It’s magical stuff, pretty much from wall to wall. ‘Summer Song’ is a gentle, spiritual opener with The Athletes only making their presence felt towards the end of the track. Their patience and subtlety is crucial to the plot, and indeed several of my favourite moments here occur when they slide in behind Yorkston (like the gentle sunburst they effect with their entry on ‘5 A.M’ and follow it with Jon Bews’ wonderful violin solo and the way they treat the melody with kid gloves on the beautifully frail ‘Don’t Let Me Down’) and ensure that the less-is-more approach is just what’s required here.
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Yorkston’s links with The Fence Collective remain strong too. Indeed, FC member HMS Ginafore duets with James on a couple of the album’s finest moments, not least the lovelorn and gentle title track (influenced by the apparent presence of a puma living in the wild near Yorkston’s parents (!)) and the sensitive and compassionate ‘I Awoke’, which is tinged with love, sorrow and the most fragile of beauty. Paul Webb himself gets into the act in places, too, adding some warm Hammond organ alongside bassist Doogie Paul’s dulcimer on the poised and intimate post-script that is the closing ‘Us Late Travellers.’
James remains keen to take on a challenge too. For one thing, he regales us with his talents at playing the clarinet (!) on tracks such as the slightly dilapidated, but lovely ‘Brussels Rambler’, while he ditches his trusty acoustic guitar in favour of a Fender Rhodes on the evocative ‘Orgiva Song’, which is steeped in the Andalusian landscape of the lyric that inspired it. Perhaps the biggest surprise is ‘Woozy With Cider’, however: an introspective, spoken word affair built around gentle loops, where our hero reports on being at a wedding where he knows nobody aside from his partner and – after a lot of heart-searching ends up “at the end of the night…best friends with everyone and everyone’s wife.” We’ve all been there for sure, but the song itself is an intriguing departure, coming across like a cross between Arab Strap and the Tindersticks’ circa ‘My Sister’. An experiment, maybe, but a damn good one.
OK, I grant you that I’m maybe biased because James Yorkston can do little wrong for me, but he’s more than earned that reputation with this writer and with the intimate, heartfelt (with clarinets on) ‘The Year Of The Leopard’ he’s pulled off yet another quiet coup. To release three fantastic albums in a row is quite an achievement these days, but James Yorkston & The Athletes have done just that. Long may they prosper.
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