James Yorkston – New single and UK tour
James Yorkston: Tortoise Regrets Hare
James Yorkston’s new single Tortoise Regrets Hare is to be released on December the 8th following the release of his album ‘When The Haar Rolls In’ and a full UK tour. It is available on 7” and digital download through Domino Records.
Tortoise Regrets Hare is a fleshed out acoustic ballad, a track that bubbles along at a gentle pace with Yorkston’s lilting Scottish voice rolling out quick-fire lyrics before melting into drawn out harmonies of ‘Hold on’ with his female accompanier Nancy Elizabeth.
James Yorkston produces some lovely turns of phrase at times, which rise their head out of the stream of fast delivery: ‘I sleep with your songs running up my arms and curling around and keeping me warm, though the chorus’ lyrics, like the title of this track, are not quite clear enough to avoid them sounding a little stilted.
Tortoise Regrets Hare is aided in its delivery by violin, keyboards and bass which James Yorkston has incorporated very nicely into his acoustic guitar part. It is a song about lack of self-trust, past unrealised loves, and the inalterability of what has happened, because it was always going to happen. It is a song of deceptive fresh hope, resignation and regrets. It is a fantastically emotional, poetic, lyrical folk song.
James Yorkston is currently on tour with Pictish Trail and Rozi Plain, both from the Fence Collective (the assembly of musicians from Fife which also includes King Creosote, who does cover of Tortoise Regrets Hare for the B-side of the single).
James Yorkston plays most of his dates solo, but will join up with his band the Athletes in London along with some legendary English folk names – Norma and Mike Waterson, Marry Gilhooly and Olly Knight for the final night of the tour, which will also include a special acoustic set from Malcom Middleton (formerly of Arab Strap).
Here is his MySpace page.
This is a list of the upcoming live dates:
November 24th – Swindon Vic
November 25th – Derby Royal
November 26th – Newcastle Sage
November 27th – Aberdeen Camelite Hotel
November 29th – Glasgow Stereo
December 11th – London St Giles Church
3 comments so far
1 James Yorkston - Live at the Bullingdon Arms, Oxford, 21/11/08, Review | Buzzin Music Blog // Nov 24, 2008 at 12:59 pm
[...] his band the Athletes, and so his songs are raw and stripped-back. This is better for songs like ‘Tortoise Regrets Hare’, where he is joined only by the two support artists, Rozi Plain and Pictish Trail on vocals, and [...]
2 Trevor Loughlin // Dec 8, 2008 at 3:49 am
I assume that was Rozie with James on Later with Jools Holland (among others) playing “Tortiose regrets Hare” because this seems to be a classic line-up and the one I want to see. I am not a folk person but this is something quite other,original and different but reminiscent in terms of emotion (rather than style) of the gentler moments of dream pop or even post punk psychedelic bands such as the Chameleons in sweet mood on “Seriosity” or the accordion on the Bunnymens “My Kingdom” or “Flaming Red”. I suppose “Dark Folk” might be the term. Perhaps the Fence Collective is the new Eric’s Club? O.K. maybe there is a way to go before those sort of highs, but keep that line-up and who knows?
3 Reinaldo // Mar 8, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Perfect. http://www.buzzinmusicblog.co.uk rocks.