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Stornoway

Beachcomber's Windowsill - Dinked Archive Edition

    Back from a hiatus and with a new album, Stornoway are today announcing a super limited Dinked Edition of their 2010 debut album, ‘Beachcomber’s Windowsill’.

    Out of print on vinyl since release and now highly collectable, ‘Beachcomber’s Windowsill’ is as its title suggests and something of a treasure. Featuring singles ‘Fuel Up’, ‘I Saw You Blink’ and ‘Zorbing’, it showed just why so many were excited by the Oxford indie-folk quartet’s arrival - a DIY guitar band unusually rooted in folk tradition. They stood out further with their deft ability to try their hand at most instruments, never shy to experiment while their pure pop harmonies soared.

    Warmly received on release, it quickly attained Silver status in the UK and critical acclaim included The Observer praising it for having a “real emotional depth that transports their music from throwaway sunny songs to something altogether more poignant and enduring,” while the NME called it “beautifully rendered and melodically magnificent; a Constable landscape of a record.” Complemented by a stunning sleeve by designer Chris Bigg who was influenced by the album’s title and their songs about nature, working in illustrations of shells, aquatic life and old maps.

    This special Dinked Edition will see the album being pressed on eco-vinyl and will come with an exclusive obi strip, art print and lyric book, all using FSC-approved card and paper. Limited to just 500 copies, it’s available to pre-order now from any of the Dinked network of UK independent stores and will be on the shelves from December 8th.


    TRACK LISTING

    Side A
    Zorbing
    I Saw You Blink
    Fuel Up
    The Coldharbour Road
    Boats And Trains
    We Are The Human Battery
    Side B
    Here Comes The Blackout…!
    Watching Birds
    On The Rocks
    The End Of The Movie
    Long Distance Lullaby

    Stornoway

    Dig The Mountain

      During their original run, Stornoway achieved immense critical acclaim, fan adoration and two Top 20 albums, one of which (their debut ‘Beachcomber’s Windowsill’) was certified Silver. But in 2016 they announced that they were ending on a high (2015’s ‘Bonxie’ being “their best album yet” according to The Guardian) with the following year’s farewell tour, although their rapturously received WOMAD set (“a magnificent farewell”, The Spectator) was delayed until 2022. They still earned new fans, however, when their version of ‘The Only Way Is Up’ exceeded 2 million streams after being used in an advert and in various TV shows. Vocalist/guitarist Brian Briggs stopped songwriting altogether and instead pursued a new career passion managing a wetland for water voles and lapwings.

      Nonetheless, Brian and bandmates Jon Ouin (keyboard) and Oli Steadman (bass) stayed in touch, and step-by-step they reconnected with the love of creating music that had first inspired them to start a band. With Brian writing in a makeshift studio on a remote coastal hilltop and Jon readying a series of ideas of his own, eventually an entirely unexpected fourth Stornoway album emerged - ‘Dig The Mountain!’

      TRACK LISTING

      1. ‘Trouble With The Green’
      2. ‘Bag In The Wind’
      3. ‘Anwen’
      4. ‘Dig The Mountain!’
      5. ‘It’s Not Up To You’
      6. ‘The Fisherman’
      7. ‘Sea Legs’
      8. ‘The Navigator’
      9. ‘The Manatee’
      10. ‘Kicking The Stone’
      11. ‘Excelsior’ 

      Stornoway

      Bonxie Unplucked EP

        Though their latest top 20 album, Bonxie, was their most electronic release to date Stornoway are best known (and possibly best loved) for their compelling acoustic performances. Magic is conjured by their use of traditional instrumentation, the Steadman brothers' sibling harmonies; making up the four parts with Jon Ouin and the clear, true, spell of lead singer Brian Briggs' voice.

        The band's love for wildlife, the outdoors and of course Brian's PhD in Ornithology are at the forefront of their message, underlined by their recent tour of RSPB nature reserves: The Shags and Ducks and Rock 'n' Roll Tour. Combined with Stornoway's passion for playing unplugged shows, it seems completely natural, in every sense of the word, for them to produce a study of Bonxie that takes the listener back to its evolutionary beginnings.

        The Unplucked EP presents acoustic versions of five songs from Bonxie: Between the Salt Marsh and the Sea, Get Low, Man On Wire, The Road You Didn't Take, Lost Youth and a cover of Yazz's 1988 hit The Only Way Is Up. The songs are stripped of their plumage and their unadorned, skeletal simplicity is revealed. As the band extolled on one of their first ever releases The Battery Human, we need to unplug and "Fix our loose connection out in the natural world wide web". So tune in, turn on and drop out with Unplucked by Stornoway

        TRACK LISTING

        1: Between The Saltmarsh And The Sea (Acoustic)
        2: Get Low (Acoustic)
        3: Man On Wire (Acoustic)
        4: The Road You Didn't Take (Acoustic)
        5: Lost Youth (Acoustic)
        6: The Only Way Is Up (Acoustic) 


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