Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There has always been an independent spirit that runs through Scotland, no matter the current discussions that are being fought over on the line that separates the Saltire and the cross of St. George, the music sits proudly in the veins of all who either live North of Carlisle or who have grown up admiring it, the thought of the Highland mist, the taste of Scotch whisky hanging round like the rallying call from the Clans. Add though the touch of the Americana to the music, the big band scene, the brandy cask with 40 year old Balvenie shaking hands and embracing its Bourbon cousin Jack Daniels and seeing the heady mix meld into a debut album by the Red Pine Timber Company that is as sturdy as Scottish hospitality and as creative as the carvings of Mount Rushmore seen in pure sunshine.

Different Lonesome is the finished article, a collection of songs that play with the norm, the subverted idea that tracks have to be to about a certain something; that they must adhere to and not prowl into the world of darkness. Scots/Americana fused with the idea of songs concerning the infrequently talked of Spanish Brothels, of murder and loss and the redemption of the Sunday morning confessional which absolves you of all sins committed. It is stirring stuff and more thought provoking than a read of and of the master of such things Ernest Hemmingway of which much of the imagery that the listener might hear, the sound between the words, and be grateful to recall.

What gives the album its edge perhaps  is the fine performances by Dave McFarlane on fiddle, Felix Milan’s tremendous saxophone and Chris Marshall’s trombone, all of which sit in harmony with Gavin Munro’s and Katie Whittaker’s vocals. The music that wafts down through the speakers is like being told to stare into the cold abyss and rather than the expected damnation from a frustrated entity, the listener is greeted by the sight of salvation, a musical encounter with something new and rather interesting and enlightening

With tracks such as the opener Lonely Days Are Gone, Sweet Seville, the grand Save My Soul and The Speaking of Your Name being particular highlights, it seems salvation, no matter what your sin on the Saturday night in the bowels of Sauchiehall Street, by the banks of the River Ness or in the brothel of a Spanish town, all will be forgiven.

As debut albums go, Different Lonesome is quite a catch, full of promise and one to embrace.

Ian D. Hall