Cheerygroove (label)
12 January 2015 (released)
20 December 2014
On the Scottish music scene Findlay Napier is virtually a superstar: as part of Back of the Moon and solo with his ‘Queen Anne’s Revenge’ project he has won awards and been lauded by the Sunday Herald. He is less well known outside of Scotland but on the basis of this album he deserves to be widely acclaimed.
Co-written with Boo Hewerdine, each of the songs here are stories of unique and fascinating people from actress Hedy Lamarr, who was also an inventor and virtually created Wi-Fi and Bluetooth - in 1941! – to ‘Eddy Banjo (more accurately Teddy Banjo) who was a tramp that lived in a cave outside Wick and constantly played one song on his banjo or Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space.
Musically, the album touches on folk, country and even rock but it is his keening, naturally Scottish and emotive voice that carries the songs – that and the subject matter which is all fascinating.
On the face of it this might be a ‘listen once and file under interesting’ album but the playing and the quality of Napier’s singing make it a delightful listen and I found myself hitting up Wikipedia after each song to learn more and getting more and more out of the album than I expected.
Excellent stuff and constantly rewarding.
