Novantae
Album: For Us...
Label: JTG
Tracks: 16
Website: http://novantae.co.uk

Novantae hail from Dumfries, last home to Robert Burns, and a forgotten corner of the country where you have to fight even harder than usual to make yourself heard on a national platform. Until Calvin Harris (admittedly fairly huge at the minute!), its main claim to fame as a musical area was as the home of Ray Wilson, the singer from Stiltskin, who replaced Phil Collins in Genesis.

Novantae's debut album may not make them bigger than Genesis, or even Stiltskin, but it's an engaging and accomplished product, lovingly put together using a number of local talents in addition to the core trio of the band. This includes graphic design from the ubiquitous (in Dumfries) Neil Paterson, and production from Huey Dowling at Unit 7 Studios in Bladnoch, Wigtownshire, the home of Distilled Records (and a very nice lowland whisky).

However, other than some piano from Carol Brotherston and backing vocals from bassist Tom Cuddihy's wife Lynn, the palette of sounds on the album is produced by the trio of Cuddihy, drummer / precussionist Guy A Bryson, and guitarist / string-thingist, James L Henderson, who also handles lead vocals. That the list of instruments includes mandolin, "diddley bow", banjo, and no less than seven percussion instruments over and above drum kit, is perhaps an indication that this album is no simple recreation of the band's powerful live sound.

In fact, on first hearing I was left thinking "So what?". Then I turned the dial round a notch or two, and heard a world of difference. Like many old lps, this disc should have a play-out groove with "PLAY LOUD" etched into it, as the mastering process has gone for this end of the audio spectrum.

I first encountered Novantae a few years' back when they struck me as pretty much a very enjoyable folk-rock band, and there's plenty to suggest this is what they do: opening track "Bill's Last Stand" opens up with a skirly guitar riff, reminiscent of a pipe tune a la Big Country; there's a rocked-up version of the old Corries favourite "I Will Go", and the closing instrumental "Haggis Hunt" almost loses the rock element. However, there's much more to the band than this, and the possibly overly generous sixteen songs on the album hint at a wide variety of influences without ever being overtly derivative. If Stuart Adamson's Dunfermline is the spiritual home of "Bill's Last Stand" and "I Will Go", "Yonder" is much more redolent of Bearsden's Orange Juice, and "Evolver" of Teenage Fanclub, from Belshill. Shades of Thin Lizzy, Horslips and Runrig can also be heard at various stages. So, maybe Dumfries has a chance of taking Novantae forward to their stated ambition of playing on the larger stages after all!

"For Us..." certainly makes for something that brings surprises at some of its corners. "The Solway Song" is a gentle, strummy celebration of the shoreline of the Solway Firth, which is followed by a thundering intorduction of "Phalanx" from Bryson's toms. "Carnivore" is an almost ELO-ish, slightly creepy love song, and whilst "Dirty Little Face" opens with a quote from Jonny Weismuller's Tarzan for some reason, it's harmony-drenched chorus suggests an effective festival sing-a-long. "Galwegian" is a very affecting solo instrumental on classical guitar from Henderson, again demonstrating a broad palette. "Gravitas" has something of Postcard about its guitar work, whilst "Braw" also suggests Talking Heads (David Byrne, after all, a product of Helensburgh) in its rhythm guitar and the soaring chorus in particular. "Deo Volente" is perhaps in danger of sounding as if written for a stage musical, but again has a killer hook, which will engage audiences on first listen.

This album has been a while coming, but given the obvious care taken in playing and production, as well as the fairly sumptuous packaging, the wait has been very well worthwhile. Give it a listen and buy it via novantae.co.uk - and then PLAY IT LOUD!!

Harry Thomson