Capercaillie's second album has a similar lineup as their debut album, except for the absence of Joan MacLachlan and the hugely significant addition of Charlie McKerron on fiddle; McKerron has been a member of the band ever since. Marc Duff plays bouzouki (but there is no sign this time of the unusual Rauschpfeife!) while Shaun Craig adds percussion.

The first track, "Puirt A Beul/Snug in a Blanket," is another stirring opener to a Capercaillie album. I believe this to be one of the band's best ever numbers. Karen Matheson's brilliant performance of mouth music is quite breathtaking. Despite the high quality of the earlier Cascade, this track announces an important development in the band's sound, which now has an added layer of depth and subtlety. Here, as elsewhere on the album, the rest of the band provides effective backing vocals. It is an unusual track too in that it starts with a vocal but ends with an instrumental. There is a tangible sense of excitement in the playing. The album cover has an evocative image of a small harbour and it is the sort of place to which your imagination is soon taken by the wonderful music.

The imagination is easily inspired by Donald Shaw's eerie keyboard playing on "Soraidh Bhuam Gu Barraidh," complementing Matheson's sublime voice. Her singing on this album seems to achieve a new presence and resonance throughout. It is a moving song in which an emigrant to Australia remembers the homeland of Barra and concludes "I'll never forget the Gaelic language/which is engraved on my mind." Indeed this Capercaillie version illustrates powerfully that Gaelic song is alive and well in the contemporary world. The next instrumental, "Glen Orchy/Rory MacLeod," is very satisfying too with the striking backing of Martin MacLeod's bass and an upbeat bodhran (presumably played by Craig).

"Am Buachaille Ban" is a haunting and memorable love song with harp-like guitar accompaniment. Duff's playing here is powerful as is Matheson's voice -- perhaps some of her best singing ever can be heard in this song. "The Haggis" might be a somewhat quirky title to the next number but this jolly tune includes some exciting fiddle playing. When listening to this instrumental I think of a wedding with perhaps the bride and bridegroom shy to join in the dancing at first but, by the end of the evening, strutting their stuff with the rest (the effect this music has on the imagination!). The following instrumental, "Brenda Stubbert's Set," really leaps out and grabs your attention. It is played at a breathtaking pace -- another Capercaillie trademark established so early on in the band's recording career.

"Ma Theid Mise Tuilleagh" is a vocal with simple guitar accompaniment by Craig who plays excellently throughout the album. It is quite a surprise when the fiddle joins in briefly before the accompaniment develops further through the keyboard. "David Glen's" is a set of tunes introduced by some seductive fiddle playing, then taken on by accordion and whistle played at a furious pace. A later tune is slower with more of a mellow feel enhanced by the bodhran. "Urnaigh A'Bhan-Thigreach" is another deeply moving song, again with some wonderful guitar accompaniment and poetic whistle playing, too. "My Laggan Love/Fox on the Town" is one of the great Capercaillie instrumentals. The love theme of the first tune is evoked through plaintive solo recorder supported by keyboard before the fantastic "Fox on the Town" ups the tempo with guitar, whistle and bass. Duff is in superb form on this track. The complexity of this tune looks ahead to much later albums. "An Ribhinn Donn" is a song that provides a serene end to the album.

This album saw the band entering a Glasgow studio for the first time -- Cava Studio 1 -- and was engineered by Brian Young with production by the band. It was mastered by Tony Cousins at Townhouse Studios, London. It is another inspiring album to which to return. There is an impressive musical unity as one track naturally leads into another. Craig and MacLeod, on their second and last appearance on a Capercaillie album, are both first rate.

It is exciting to realize how assured the band were at such a young age.

by Andy Jurgis
Rambles.NET
16 December 2006

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