My Latest Novel – Wolves (Bella Union)

The debut album by My Latest Novel - another product of the thriving Scottish alt-folk scene - is somewhat surprising. Looking at the shaggy hair, shy smiles and polka-dot dresses, one could be forgiven for thinking that their music would be rather twee. However, Wolves is a whole lot more ambitious than that. The first surprise comes in the impressive album-opener ‘Ghost in the Gutter’, a Godspeed You Black Emperor-esque guitar/string squall, which takes the listener to real heights, before easing down with the whispered refrain of “ghost in the gutter, doesn’t really matter”.

In fact, a number of the songs on Wolves fall into the expansive, bordering on avant-garde category. ‘Learning Lego’, with its spine-tingling four-part harmonies, is a real highlight, and the blood chant of ‘When We Were Wolves’ draws you in the more you listen to it. The other over-riding style on the album is folk pop, with ‘The Hope Edition’, one of the sweetest, most summery songs one could ever wish to hear, and with ‘The Job Mr Kurtz Done’ and its refrain “I think I’m dreaming, or at least I might be, ‘cause all of a sudden I’m on a plane” (echoing Belle and Sebastian’s ‘A Space Boy Dream’), which suddenly switches to a delightful waltz rhythm. The centrepiece of the album is ‘Sister Sneaker, Sister Soul’, a jewel worn with pride by the band, thanks to its bittersweet lyrics, gorgeous harmonies, soaring violin and a driving, pulsating bridge. It’s extremely rousing and could prove to be a big hit for them.

’Wolves’ is the product of great ambition, scope and songwriting craft. It will be very interesting to see what happens next in My Latest Novel's career, but I would not be at all surprised to see them achieve greater popularity this year. A fantastic debut.

Andrew Cleary