Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
As George Harrison once mused, “All things must pass”; however if The Story must come to a dramatic end then it has be with sincerity, beauty and absolute pomp and as one of Scotland’s finest have made clear with their latest and final studio album, pomp and ceremony are only half the tale, the rest is made up with an absolute mind blowing epitaph of musical brilliance.
Curtains must come down eventually, the dance floor must empty and the band must pack away their instruments but not without a final fling in which the musical soul of the band is affirmed and the sheer volume of existence is acknowledged. For nothing in this world is a charming or rewarding as Runrig playing songs of such sweet lament and bruising truth. The curtain may fall but the sound continues and it is down to the desire of all involved and especially the youngest member of the band Brian Hurren that the album sounds as scenic, as enigmatic and authentic as it does.
The sound of the emotional waves of dawn sweep down before the listener as if watching the rain trickle down the mountainside or the traces of heather lingering in the air are so palpable, so wrapped in the moment that it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Saltire being raised in the field of vision and the sound of bagpipes greeting the dawn, such is the natural air of the songs that the resonance of the bold and the brave are images made real.
The mix of Gaelic and English lyrics fused together as if in some overlapping dance is not to be forgotten but it is in the drama of guitar, pipes, accordion and drums into which the magic assembles.
From the opening bars of The Story, past the entitled yearning of songs such as Rise and Fall, The Years We Shared and An-Duigh Ghabh Mi Cuairt and to the outstanding climax of Somewhere, Runrig deliver a resolute hunger sated, a craving that is fulfilled. The Story is a tale worth being told and one that is one of the most captivating moments captured.
Runrig’s The Story is released on Friday 29th January via Ridge Records.
Fans in the Northwest will be able to see Runrig perform at the 02 Apollo in Manchester on Tuesday 23rd February.
Ian D. Hall