Tales from Terra Firma

**It’s been a quiet couple of years for Stornoway. More than three, in fact, have passed since the band’s delightful and radio-friendly track ‘Zorbing’ – complete with homemade video – restored faith in the ‘nu-folk’ genre. In following-up the critically acclaimed _Beachcomber’s Windowsill_, the band have shown few signs of second-album syndrome in _Tales from Terra Firma_, which looks set to make the long wait more than worth it come March.**

Most fundamentally the band has enlarged and enriched their sound. _Tales from Terra Firma_ is a canvas covered in ideas about the passing of time and self-discovery, beautifully coloured in with an orchestra of instruments and effects. Heavier lyrical content has evidently encouraged the band to experiment with the minor-key in a select few areas, a welcome move that gives a depth of dramatism to the album in hinting at uncertain undercurrents. But fear not, the 2010 version of the band – in love with nothing but crisp and care-free pop melodies and harmonies made to be whistled – is still very much the prominent show, just this time it’s on a bigger stage.

This album is appropriately labelled by the band as a journey, and this is evident in more ways than one. Not only does their penchant for exploration attempt to take us “out of skin and above the clouds”, but the entire fluidity and movement of the album – each song’s path just as unpredictable and entertaining as the last – mean that a documented voyage really is palpable. The wonderfully consistent ability of the band to contrast well-timed and powerful crescendos with dreamy and slower acoustic sections means that _Tales from Terra Firma_ is a path to be walked down in its entirety in order to gain fullest appreciation of it. Take it with you on a long journey of your own and it will be the perfect accompaniment.

**MP3:** ‘You Take Me As I Am’