PREVIOUSLY named Woodenbox With A Fistful Of Fivers, it’d be fair to say that the Glasgow outfit have always worn their American country influences on their sleeve. However, their new album, partly driven by a type of “post-referendum blues”, suggests Woodenbox have entered new terrain.
To be clear, their new album Foreign Organ is as much an exercise in folk-rock merriment as anything they’ve released, but there’s a richness and depth to their sound that is more pronounced than before.
The band also have a progressive approach to instrumentation, in that they progressively seem to recruit more and more members. Now boasting players of saxophone, trumpet and flute, the album is full of surprises.
“We’re kind of up to seven members now, because we have a new pianist in our ranks,” says vocalist Ali Downer. “We first formed as a three-piece, but then we would just develop by song. We’d add instruments with each song we’d record: first trumpets, then we needed sax, then backing vocals.
“It grew organically, and it’s made everything more fun, especially live.”
More often than not, these various instrumental parts spring up as the songs progress. Adding melodic touches to the likes of Life Decays, they’re used tastefully and add texture to already well developed acoustic songs.
However, there’s also a power to the overall sound of Woodenbox that perhaps wasn’t there previously.
“We see this as more of a rock record,” says Downer. “I like the idea of bringing in a completely new approach with each record. We could happily make a full country album next time under an entirely different name. It keeps things fresh and unpredictable.”
Though Foreign Organ is undeniably their biggest sounding record, it’s also their most crisp sounding yet. Downer attributes this partly to their sound mixer, but the band also had access to their own practice space.
“We recorded all the parts in our own practice space,” explains Downer. “We had 24-hour access and that makes a huge difference. It was freedom. We could take as long as we needed to lay down the horns for example, or if we wanted a whole night to record a trumpet part, we could.”
Lyrically, the album varies in quality, with some concepts conveyed more vividly than others: for example in the highly reflective closing track, with its stunning precise imagery.
“The first half of the album is actually pretty optimistic sounding,” says Downer. “Clearly the last track, Scotland, is a bit more sombre. We recorded most of the album before the referendum, and there was a real sense of hope.”
“We recorded the song straight after the result and it just felt like a comedown. I remember my wife came along to sing backing vocals, and she brought our wee baby. As the song came to an end, the baby started crying. It felt like a very apt way to end the record.”
In spite of the closer, there’s still an upbeat feel to the overall record that shines through in the songwriting. Each track seems to have a genuinely pointed message without resorting to irritating clichés.
Even songs with darker themes such as Roberto and More Girl Than Friend are moving and motivational. Woodenbox don’t appear to abide by the rule that Scottish artists should be despondent.
“When we play shows, we want to be part of the party,” says Downer. “There’s that communal feel and we tend to go down well in the north of Scotland where there’s that traditional base. That type of show gives us the freedom to improvise, and it also really veers us away from the moody indie shows that perhaps we’d be associated with otherwise.
“There’s also an open-mindedness in this country towards our type of music. Whilst we’ll probably head back to England soon, we’ve often been promoted as a Mumford & Sons-esque act. In Scotland, there’s less of that.”
Based on the quality of Foreign Organ, I can assuredly promise that any reasonable listener won’t be able to make that comparison.
The band play Madhatters in Inverness tonight and The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen on Friday.
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