James Yorkston announces new album 'The Route to the Harmonium' for Feb 22nd 2019

James Yorkston announces new album 'The Route to the Harmonium' for Feb 22nd 2019

James Yorkston will release his new album The Route to the Harmonium on Feb 22nd 2019; produced by Yorkston and David Wrench, it is James’ first solo record since 2014’s Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society (CRAWS) and follows the two collaborative albums he made as one third of Yorkston/Thorne/Khan as well as the release of his debut novel Three Craws in 2016.

Alongside the announcement, James has shared new song ‘My Mouth Ain’t No Bible’ - one of three thrilling spoken-word pieces on the record. It thrums insistently, military snares punching away, Yorkston’s delivery interplaying as two competing voices, one of himself, the other a lost musician friend, “a spare hand, a hired hand, a deck hand” who was unable to prevent self-destruction. 

Stream ‘My Mouth Ain’t No Bible’ here. 

The album was almost entirely recorded by James himself, in the small Scottish fishing village of Cellardyke, where he lives. Yorkston’s studio is a ramshackle old loft space, originally used to repair fisherman’s nets, and now stuffed full the antique instruments James has collected throughout his life as a musician. Having created hours of recordings, James called up his old collaborator David Wrench - the mixer and producer who has worked with the likes of Caribou, Four Tet, Frank Ocean, FKA Twigs and David Byrne - and someone who has worked on James’ albums since 2003 – to help make sense of the sessions.

The Route to the Harmonium (or, ‘the search for peace’) is intensely personal; it’s the sound of home, of undisturbed craftmanship. Listen closely and you can imagine him putting it together. Overlaying vocal and guitar tracks, adding further with Dulcitones, harmoniums and autoharps, with nyckelharpa, the distinctive Swedish stringed instrument given to him by a friend. And friends and family, past and present swim all over his songs. Remembering them, and those you’ve shared life with, those who leave and those who remain, is the strongest thread running through these affecting, extraordinary songs. This is Yorkston’s world and could be nowhere else in music.

James adds: “I guess, as a musician and writer, I find myself reacting to what goes on around. So, this album is about life, the life that carries on around me. There’s family, place, and the being away from family that the life of a touring musician brings… But there’s also reference to friends departed – the hows, the whys – When a friend jumps ship it’s always a haymaker to the gut, you know? And this album is about them, but it’s more about us, us who are left behind...”

Track listing:

1.     Your Beauty Could Not Save You

2.     The Irish Wars of Independence

3.     Like Bees to Foxglove

4.     Shallow

5.     The Blue of the Thistle

6.     My Mount Ain’t No Bible

7.     Solitary Islands All

8.     The Villages I Have Known My Entire Life

9.     Oh Me, Oh My

10.  Brittle

11.  Yorkston Athletic

12.  A Footnote to an Epitaph

The Route to the Harmonium is available to pre–order on Dom Mart-exclusive green vinyl (w/ signed poster), deluxe green vinyl (w/ poster), standard vinyl (w/ poster), CD and digitally.     

James Yorkston will head out next month for his traditional solo Christmas shows, with a full UK tour following in May, whilst in January, Yorkston/Thorne/Khan will take in a tour of Ireland.

Upcoming James Yorkston live shows

2018

Wed 19th December – The Lexington, London **Sold Out**

Thurs 20th December – Kitchen Garden Café, Birmingham Tickets

2019

1st April – Perth Theatre, Perth

2nd May - Summerhall, Edinburgh Tickets

3rd May - Òran Mór, Glasgow Tickets

4th May - Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine Tickets

5th May - Waiting Room, Eaglescliffe Tickets

6th May - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds Tickets

7th May - Islington Assembly Hall, London Tickets

8th May - Reading Arts Centre, Reading Tickets

9th May – Gallery, Milton Keynes Tickets

10th May – Dukes, Lancaster Tickets

11th May – Old Cinema Launderette, Durham Tickets

13th May – Louisiana, Bristol Tickets

14th May - The Moon, Cardiff Tickets

15th May – The King’s Arms, Manchester Tickets

16th May - Trades Hall, Hebden Bridge Tickets

24th May – Tolbooth, Stirling Tickets

Upcoming Tae Sup wi’ a Fifer shows - hosted and programmed by James Yorkston

Sat 15th December – Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy with Vashti Bunyan, Audiobooks, Michael Pedersen

Upcoming Yorkston/Thorne/Khan live shows

Fri 18th January 2019 – Cleere’s, Kilkenny

Sat 19th January 2019 – Dolan’s, Limerick

Tues 22nd January 2019 – The Workman’s Club, Dublin

Thurs 24th January – Out To Lunch Festival, Belfast

Fri 25th January 2019 – Coughlan’s, Cork

Sat 26th January 2019 – Phil Grimes, Waterford

Tickets