Following a successful collaboration with the Swedish group the Second Hand Orchestra on 2021's The Wide Wide River, James Yorkston went back to them a second time to help bring a batch of typically warm and introspective songs to life. He'd switched to writing songs on piano instead of guitar for the first time, and with the help of SHO leader Karl-Jonas Winqvist, constructed a similarly loose and lively set of arrangements that felt improvised, while at the same time as intricate as a fine piece of jewelry. During the ...
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Following a successful collaboration with the Swedish group the Second Hand Orchestra on 2021's The Wide Wide River, James Yorkston went back to them a second time to help bring a batch of typically warm and introspective songs to life. He'd switched to writing songs on piano instead of guitar for the first time, and with the help of SHO leader Karl-Jonas Winqvist, constructed a similarly loose and lively set of arrangements that felt improvised, while at the same time as intricate as a fine piece of jewelry. During the early planning sessions for what became The Great White Sea Eagle, the duo decided they could use a female voice to add contrast and harmony. To that end, they were lucky enough to get Nina Persson on board and her unadorned sweetness pairs perfectly with Yorkston's mumbling croon. The songs are much more intimate and sparse this time around, sounding less like Astral Weeks as played by a raggle-taggle group of wandering minstrels and more like the late-night meanderings of a small cadre of players watching each other's fingers dance through the candlelight. It's a comforting, deeply involving record that resonates from the first song, "Sam and Jeanie McGreagor," where Persson draws the listener in with her immediate vocals that deliver Yorkston's typically literate and moving words with offhand passion. Each song that follows builds upon the strong beginning with lilting grace ("An Upturned Crab"), almost painful beauty ("A Forestful of Rogues"), gentle uplift ("Hold Out for Love"), and on the title track, pastoral poetry. The record is in turns quietly introspective and occasionally a little bit jangly ("Keeping up with the Grandchildren, Yeah") and dramatic ("The Heavy Lyric Police" which comes complete with free jazz saxophones.) Yorkston's focus on piano means there is a less rambling, more stately feel to the arrangements that allow the songs more breathing room. It gives more space for the listener to fall into the songs rather than be swept away. That being said, when Yorkston and Persson's twin their voices together in open-hearted harmony, as they do on "Harmony," "Mary," and in a few other places, it's hard not to be completely enchanted. Yorkston has couched his thoughtful, insightful songs in many musical forms, all of them quite successful. His teamwork with the Second Hand Orchestra, and especially with Persson, results in some of the most beautiful and moving music he's made, which is high praise indeed. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi
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Add this copy of The Great White Sea Eagle to cart. $22.08, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2023 by Domino Records.
Add this copy of The Great White Sea Eagle to cart. $22.60, new condition, Sold by Entertainment by Post - UK rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from BRISTOL, SOUTH GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2023 by Domino.
