02 February 2023 (gig)
03 February 2023
Folk troubadour James Yorkston is certainly on a roll when it comes to picking his leading ladies.
After bringing Indian classical vocalist and composer Ranjana Ghatak into his world music dabblings not so long ago, he's been at it again by unveiling Cardigans legend Nina Persson as his latest muse.
Under-the-radar Fife-based songsmith and Swedish pop-rock goddess alike can boast of the proverbial extensive back catalogue, but as far as their coupling goes, it's all about just one record – for now, at least.
They're performing their new album The Great White Sea Eagle – a collaboration with Persson's Swedish brethren The Second Hand Orchestra – in full on tour.
Fresh from an appearance earlier this week on his East Neuk patch, the baseball cap-wearing maestro and Nina, stylish in blazer, chords and trainers in varying browns, opened as a duo at Stirling's Tolbooth on Thursday with the hauntingly beautiful torch song Mary and the equally emotional lullaby A Sweetness In You.
If dark and brooding was how it seemed this performance seemed to be shaping up, all that changed with Second Hand Orchestra's arrival.
The Swedish collective, five-strong on this tour, are untrammelled by the conventions of what a pop or rock band should be. To say there's a lot going on – and therefore also a lot to take in - would be something of an understatement.
TSHO produce a delightful carnival of sound that here proved the perfect foil for Persson's often achingly tender vocals and both Yorkston's forays on the ivories and, increasingly as the show went on, his guitar-led contributions.
Each one of the Orchestra's line-up is a successful artist in their own right in Sweden, with Lina Langendorf proving her capabilities first as a flute player, then later delivering a couple of blistering sax solos.
Yorkston, 51, was keen to acknowledge the part played by drummer Karl-Jonas Winqvist in helping to pull the LP together, and another member of the Cellardyke resident's co-production team, Per Bengtson, was enlisted on bass and piano duties.
Unfortunate violinist Ullis Gyllenberg was unwittingly on the end of a technical glitch that put the performance on hold for longer than anyone would've wished for early on.
It was handled with trademark calmness and good humour by Yorkston, but sadly her efforts seemed rather smothered for the rest of the gig.
Less muted was guitarist Peter Morén, of Peter Bjorn And John fame – Young Folks, anyone? – who delivered in spades on the kind of kooky lo-fi stylings expected from this deceptively ragtag bunch of Scandi hippies.
It's clear that Yorkston has moved on from the often esoteric mumbo-jumbo that characterised much of his early work to a more down-to-earth approach that's equal parts light and shade, happy and sad.
Audience members could have been forgiven for getting misty-eyed at the endearing tribute to his nonagenarian father-in-law, Keeping Up With The Grandchildren, Yeah, while few would surely struggle to relate to The Harmony's confessional-like perspective.
On a more trippy tip, A Hollow Skeleton Lifts A Heavy Wing stood out as an utterly beguiling contemporary psych-folk ballad, further cementing Yorkston's status as a kind of Donovan Leitch for Gen Xers.
Persson, 48, takes on more of the vocal burden live than on the album, which is something Yorkston's confirmed he's happy to let her get on with.
While clearly no slouch in that department himself, it's a masterful piece of delegation on his part given the Orebro native's effortlessly awesome and refreshingly histrionic-free contribution.
Though she has little, if anything, to say in between songs, demurely leaving Yorkston to do all the talking – as he clearly enjoys – there's a real chemistry between the pair that comes through in a frequently sublime set.
Throw in their endearingly eccentric backing, and as a folk-meets-pop interface this ensemble's efforts are more reliable than your average Volvo saloon.
