James Yorkston
When the Haar Rolls In
Rating: 3.5
Label: Domino
There seems to be an age-old debate over whether lyrics can make or break a song. I am one for ignoring lyrics, usually listening to tone and melody than what is being said. Of course, when there are extreme examples in either direction (can anything be worse than, “I felt so symbolic yesterday?“), my ears prick up, but most of the time it’s the instrumentation of the voice and timbre that get me. Yeah, I like Dylan, Cave, Cohen and Waits for their poetry, but most of the time it’s Ob-la-di to me.
Unfortunately for me, James Yorkston is one of those musicians where one must stop and listen to the lyrics. On When the Haar Rolls In, his fourth solo album of folk music, Yorkston writes dense songs infused with words that make the liner notes a thick tome of verse. Though only nine tracks long, Haar is an expansive work of quiet beauty, bolstered by the interesting tales Yorkston spins on each song.
On a first listen, Yorkston’s dry delivery can be off-putting; the songs are evocative of a windswept, barren Scottish landscape with Yorkston’s voice as a steady guide. But as you get deeper into his mountain of words, there is heartbreak and new love burbling beneath the calm veneer he portrays. “And all my grand plans could be thrown into disarray/ But I must take the blame/A half-heard word a broken promise/ Is that really all your offers?/ Is that really all you’re offering me?” Yorkston laments on “Temptation,” the best and also most wrenching song on the album. However, When the Haar Rolls In is anything but a sparse affair. “Queen of Spain” is a bouncy number much in the vein of what Josh Ritter has been writing lately and “Tortoise Regrets Hare” sounds deceptively simple, lest you be swallowed by the fox like the hare in the song.
While Yorkston’s previous record, The Year of the Leopard, featured mainly naked guitars and vocals, Haar rolls in with clarinets, vibraphones, banjos and accordions. Despite the fleet of musicians aboard, Yorkston is still most definitely up in front. In fact, “Would You Have Me Born with Wooden Eyes” begins with Yorkston alone, meditatively picking his bouzouki.
Indeed, Yorkston is a master songwriter and despite the overlong title track, this album offers a fine array of his best music. Perhaps his biggest strength is his authenticity; nothing here feels calculated or forced or maudlin. When Nancy Elizabeth’s frequent, sweet backing vocals complement Yorkston, the entrance feels natural. Best of all, none of the lyrics seem forced.
Yorkston, and his backing band the Athletes, are already a big deal overseas in the UK, but he has yet to crack our shores across the Atlantic. True, his musical stylings could match anything coming out on Sub Pop right now, but there is something very “British” about his music that may keep him little more than a novelty in our xenophobic mainstream. Though the Celtic dirge of the Lal Waterson cover “Midnight Feast” may appeal to the Chieftains fan, America’s fascination with everything MacGregor may have blinkered out when Braveheart went out of vogue. Too bad for us.
by David Harris
[Illustration: Sarah Goodreau]
