Battlefield Band - Line Up

Unmistakeable, soothing, elegant - So much can be said of Battlefield Band's brand of Scottish folk, but in truth, the overiding fact is their obvious talent. It's there in the sense of scale Line Up embodies as an album, floating from track to track like a spirit, leaving the stamp of quality in its wake.

From pacey album opener Raigmore, the tone is set - pipe and fiddle melodies stand at the forefront of the majority of the tracks but its the underpinning of bass and rhythmic acoustic guitar that really elevates the tracks to their best.

Full of tradition and legacy, the four-piece group make clear through the course of the album's duration that this is music both from the soul, and Scotland itself; the songs seeming to spring up from the very ground.

On the band's cover of Otis Redding's soul classic That's How Strong My Love Is we hear singer Sean O'Donnell vocals; crisp, clear and tender. It's a tasteful rendition and one that fits effortlessly in with the rest of the record.

Breezy whistle melodies add a distinct cheeriness to the likes of Easy Peasy, while on the other end of the scale piano ballad Song Composed In August wraps itself up in a lush blanket of beauty.

The scope of Line Up feels impressive, the multitude of instruments capturing so many different facets and layers of emotion, all interwoven in a way folk music seems so apt at doing.

Every track, every strand of thread that makes up this collection; each tells a different story, another line in the story of Battlefield Band's carefully wrought perspective of the world.

Line Up is out now and can be downloaded here.