Stornoway - Bonxie
This is indie-folk for the Waitrose generation.
This is the third album from Oxford-based Stornaway, although the first to really reflect on and acknowledge the heritage of their name. Even so, the songs for Bonxie (named after the native Hebridean Great Skua) were largely written in the beautiful Gower peninsula of South Wales rather than the shipping forecast territory of the remote Scottish islands. So it's still a bit like when you found out for the first time that The Lighthouse Family weren't a real family, and never actually lived in a lighthouse.
But for those who like their music filled with metaphors about the nature of relationships (and the relationships of nature) this is an intelligent and cleverly written collection of songs, starting with 'Between The Saltmarsh and The Sea' (which could be the soundtrack for our own North Norfolk coastline) and concluding with the tell-tale 'Love Song of the Beta Male', reflective dashboard-tapping angst for the drive back to London after another 'get-away-from-it-all' weekend at the family cottage.
And that is the trouble with Bonxie. Although inspired by the beauty and wildlife of our rugged and desolate coastlines, it is the story of a visitor, an outsider, and in so doing it still struggles to deliver its message convincingly.
This is indie-folk for the Waitrose generation.
6/10
