Music > Album Reviews

King Creosote // From Scotland with love

01/07/14

From Scotland With Love is Kenny Anderson’s first full release since Diamond Mine, the Mercury nominated collaboration with Jon Hopkins. Of course, with a discography littered with CDRs, re-recordings and limited vinyl only releases, the story is not that simple. This is a collaboration between Anderson, film director Virginia Heath and film producer Grant Keir, described as an "audio-accompaniment" to a film of the same name to be released to coincide with the Commonwealth Games. Unlike most soundtracks, this works as a stand-alone album. Most of the tracks follow the KC template of Anderson’s rich-but-fragile voice over a modern take on Scottish trad/folk. The backing is both more muscular and more sympathetic than previous KC releases and this does take some trips into the leftfield. Stand-out track Large is rollicking gypsy-folk-jazz, like a Scottish Gogol Bordello. Both Miserable Stranger and For One Night Only hint at James. Disturbingly, the school yard chanting in Bluebell, Cockleshell, 123 resembles B'Witched's Boy In The Tree but, more disturbing still, is a damned find tune despite that. In the year of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the independence referendum, this is a well worked and moving tribute to Scotland that deserves success.