Rachel Sermanni
Tied To The Moon
(Middle Of Nowhere)
It won't quite cause the same ripples as Bob Dylan circa 1965, but Scottish folk balladeer Rachel Sermanni has plugged in and gone electric. Well, not all the way across this second studio album - more than half of the set remains in the realm of the acoustic - but there's a louder, rockier vibe to several of the songs here. And the change has done her good.
On opening track Run, then onto I've Got A Girl and Tractor, there's more of a chug to her guitar and a solid foundation to the all-star rhythm section of former Frightened Rabbit Gordon Skene (bass) and Admiral Fallow's Louis Abbott (drums). This and the natural noir colourings of her songwriting - Alice falling down a rabbit hole past row upon row of unexpected minor chords - makes the Carrbridge native an unexpected PJ Harvey of the Highlands.
However, her voice remains gorgeously breathy and wide-eyed whether the music is amplified or delicately plucked. Everywhere you look, there are things to love: the beguilingly poetic lyrics on Ferryman, Jennifer Austin's haunted carousel organ on I've Got A Girl; Colin Macleod's subtly sympathetic production on the beautiful Don't Fade; the jaw-dropping arrangement of pattering drums, tinkling piano and crisscrossing voices on This Love that make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. It's a flawless follow-up to what was an excellent debut.
Alan Morrison
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article