James Yorkston - Someplace Simple
[Domino]

Remember the NAM scene? Young polite men, politely dressed and playing polite tunes very quietly was all the rage for a brief moment back in 2001. That is until the tidal wave of 'New Rock Revolution' bands came careering out of nowhere, leaving the genre to seemingly crash and burn as quickly as it emerged.

There are some like Fife based troubadour James Yorkston, who have been ploughing this furrow all along, quietly un-noticed. This isn't to say Yorkston is necessarily part of the NAM scene, but his beautifully crafted, warm music follows the same blueprint. Coming to prominence as a member of the acclaimed Fence collective, Domino Records snapped him up for the release of 'Moving Up Country', a collection of lost folk songs.

'Someplace Simple' marks the first glut of new material and Yorkston tears away any preconceptions. Shedding some of the layers that made up enriching songs such as 'The Lang Toun', he leaves a stark, bare and wintery stripped down sound. Inhabiting a similar place to that of fellow Domino artist Will Oldham, Yorkston proves that there is still room for good old-fashioned, uncomplicated music amongst modern dance producers and a tendency to rely on computers.

Fence Collective mainstay King Creosote lends a hand on the title track, playing accordion & contributing the odd backing vocal. The focus is mainly on Yorkston's laid back narrative style of singing, much like Aidan Moffat of Arab Strap. Half distant and somewhat lost in thought, he addresses issues which we ourselves wouldn't normally feel the need to take notice of. Combined with an uninflected trad-folk beauty & wit, this raises James Yorkston above the norm.

A cover of Lal & Mike Waterson's 'Scarecrow' and 3 traditional songs make up the rest of the EP, continuing in a similar vein. Violins, flute & double-bass make appearances as well as the deftly picked acoustic guitars and accordions, bringing to mind Nick Drake's extraordinary gift for songwriting & arrangements. Blues and alt-country are also influences but this should definitely be filed under folk, right next to Bert Jansch.

Much more than a stopgap, this fills in the blanks left by 'Moving Up Country' and paves the path for a new full length offering. Rest assured if Yorkston continues in this fashion, it's bound to be a cracker. Someplace simple is where we should all aim to be.