Album Review: Stornoway - Tales From Terra Firma

The second offering from these plaid-wearing Oxford locals, Tales From Terra Firma is the epitome of a leisurely bike ride through the English countryside. It's all just so lovely jubbly. Spurred on by classic folk instruments including mandolins, lead singer and lyricist Brian Briggs keeps the cheeriness up through what is ultimately a scrapbook dedicated to love, loss and all that aches inbetween.

A flurry of drums, trumpets and key-banging piano playing breaks open the musical floodgates with You Take Me As I Am, a deceptive, sweetish first track that belies the heartache to come. Heavy on delicate strings, Farewell Appalachia is a gentle throwback to the free-lovin', haunting harmonies of the '60s with hints of The Byrds and The Mamas & The Papas' lackadaisical vocals dancing across eerie, soft psychedelic sound effects.

Briggs' lyrical brilliance shines in The Bigger Picture. Inspired by a close friend's death, the song's theme of 'nature as god' – “You may have seen the first star flickering in the park one summer evening/No less faintly than the dream your heart was wishing on” – evokes the romantic poets of old like Samuel Taylor Coleridge and buddy William Wordsworth. The album's musical heart then skips a beat and restarts with a happy-clap jolt on Knock Me On The Head, before a shot of sedative drags the vibe back down a notch with the Celtic-tinted The Great Procrastinator. One of the comments on the Oxford-based band's YouTube video says it all: “Stornoway is one of the most undervalued bands in the UK. Their day will come.” Let's hope that day is nearing.