Here’s yet another youthful folk-inspired singer/songwriter hoping to be the next Newton Faulkner or Jose Gonzalez, I thought to myself. Yet I was quickly and happily proven wrong within minutes of listening to the opening track ‘Home’.
Full of depth, beautifully layered piano and guitar harmonies, and an undeniable sense of atmosphere, this EP contains inventive and fresh folk-based music, undeniably some of the best to come out of Scotland in the past decade. Hailing from Stornoway, within the Outer Hebrides islands, it’s clear that MacLeod’s surroundings have had a clear impact upon his music and writing style. Haunting, emotional, and often creating an atmosphere of isolation and loneliness, MacLeod’s physical environment has allowed him to create a conceptual piece of music which can immerse listener and musician alike.
Being influenced by such acts as Ryan Adams and Gram Parsons, MacLeod claims himself to be the ‘pseudo-offspring of Cash and Drake’, an apt and yet surprising self-issued label. For as the EP does contain thought provoking lyrics you could easily associate to the likes of Johnny Cash, and catchy, yet emotional riffs similar to the likes of Nick Drake, MacLeod’s music does carve a path of its own.
The EP’s second track, ‘In The Dark’, whilst bearing similarities to the likes of Devendra Banhart and Fionn Regan, is a beautiful and delicate love song, whilst the sweet and enticing melody of ‘Lying to Get on Your Good Side’ takes a more bluesy route, transporting the listener into a evocatively beautiful world non to similar to that which Fleet Foxes created with their debut early last year.
MacLeod may not be the individual artist one would have hoped to encounter when finding a fresh, new folk act, but he stands his ground and takes influence from some of the greatest acts of his genre.
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The building reputation he is gaining within the music world during the past few months proves that The Boy Who Trapped The Sun is an act to watch with great anticipation, and he is about to embark on a nationwide tour in March supporting Lisa Mitchell, stopping in Southampton, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Glasgow, Leeds, Birmingham, Nottingham, Manchester and London.
‘Home’ is released through Chess Club Records on March 1st 2010, a welcome and beautiful introduction to a full album which will be released later this year.
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