Iain Morrison
Album: Eas
Label: Peatfire
Tracks: 9
Website: http://www.iainmorrisonmusic.com

It seems not long since I reviewed Isle Of Lewis-born singer-songwriter Iain’s fascinating, understated but immensely rewarding fifth album To The Horizon, Sir; and even since that time I’ve returned often to its yearning, sometimes enigmatic brand of nu-folk. That album’s followup, Eas (the Gaelic word for waterfall or cascading), is broadly similar in mood and its gently layered texturings (albeit more thickly scored on occasion) prove equally persuasive, even if its essentially intense exclusivity of mood and feeling can sometimes seem a minor barrier to an immediate appreciation of its delights. Like its predecessors, Eas does not readily yield up its charms, and one has to work at it to delve beneath the well-proportioned backdrops which can be deceptively attention-grabbing (the fulsome arrangement and development of A Flame Of Wrath For Patrick Caogach is a good instance of this dichotomy, but the hushed tones of The Little Spree that follow are also cause for being stopped in one’s tracks albeit more gently). Creativity of arrangement is never in short supply, and Crackle (which features the speaking voice of Allan MacDonald) is an intriguing if episodic success; the spoken word also forms part of Too Long In This Condition, this time intoned by the legendary fellow-Islander Donald Macleod to a bleak homespun canvas of piano and drums. Each song is rather like a cross between a Lied and a mini-tone-poem, although our appreciation of the songs’ form and character is enhanced when we learn that each of the album’s tracks is based on piobaireachd (the classical music of the highland bagpipe) Interestingly, this would itself have been usually taught using a technique called canntaireachd, essentially a form of singing, which makes it easier to communicate subtleties and nuances than when using the instrument itself; knowing that Iain’s father (Iain Snr) is a well-respected senior piper and tutor in this method encourages our acceptance of this dictum, and his own canntaireachd appears on the aforementioned Too Long In This Condition.

Iain (Jr)’s own singing voice is hushed too, with a disarming vulnerability that conceals great strength of purpose and character, and a sense of deep internal calm that belies the sometimes restless and questioning content of his lyrics. Thankfully, as I’ve just discovered, these are available on Iain’s website. With Eas, Iain’s produced another very imposing and significantly beguiling album, one that fair compels you to put it on repeat in order to unlock its sometimes thorny delights.

David Kidman