‘Faded Postmark’ is the debut album from Roselands, the London based acoustic folk band formed by Glaswegian singer/songwriter Mark McLaughlin and Midlands guitarist/harmony singer James Byron with Pete Rawlings completing the line-up on double bass. The album consists of ten acoustic folk tracks that are stirring and evocative.
Opener, ‘Walk this World’ has a world weary Tom Waitsish air to it, being guitar and accordion based and with a catchy nagging chorus of “You and me, we can walk this world over”, worms its way into the consciousness of the listener so insidiously, that you’re surprised that you’re humming along by the end.
‘Blue Skies’ is guitar based and features some excellent harmonies between McLaughlin and Byron. The lyrics are wistful and recounting a lost love: -“Don’t leave me standin’ without you, don’t leave me on my own”. The sentimentality in this song is evocative rather than mawkish. “Rain rains and the water doesn’t bother me/ I see memories of you and me”.
‘Somers Town’ is clearly single material with acoustic guitar supported by some admirable cello work from Karen Barnes. There are some good lyrical pictures painted here: “the radio plays, through a North London haze, She’s singin’”.And: - "She will lay down beside him, holdin’ him tight against the rain/ With the hope that she finds him when Saturday comes again”.
The next track ‘Tonight’ has a country style guitar and mourns the passing of time and a love lost, “should have held you closer”, but look forward tentatively to the future: -
“Tonight, tonight I can hold somebody so tight/Tonight I can hold on to someone tonight”. There is a sort of hesitancy here as if the character in the song is trying to convince himself of this fact, which adds to its charm. It also features some nice harmonica work.
‘The First I See’ is another good track with an upbeat guitar line supported by accordion and a double bass that clearly makes its presence felt. This is a heartfelt love song in the classic tradition and the lyrics set the scene perfectly: - “Waiting for morning to come, waiting for you my sweet one”.The uplifting chorus on this is great: - “The sound of your name pulls you closer to me/ When I open my eyes won’t you be/The first that I see”.
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‘Rose Street’ is a guitar and piano based ditty that mourns the singer’s girl going away to America, wondering what she’s doing there while he’s still here. All Saints Day’ features an opening guitar and piano line that owes a little to ‘When You Rock and Roll With Me’ by David Bowie, and lyrics that describe the song the singer wants to hear to take his mind off the dirty streets and the hard rain that’s gonna fall: - “You can hear it on All Saints Day, there’s a love song playin’ on the radio."
‘Columbus Avenue’ is all catchy harmonies and jaunty harmonica with some good lyrical twists thrown in, while album closer, ‘By and By’ is again accordion based and Waitish in its melody, all about a woman who “deals in daydreams”.
Overall, I liked this album, the instrumentation was tight and good, the vocals stirring, and some of the tracks weren’t a million mile from some of the early Belle and Sebastian stuff. The only real negative point was that the songs were a bit samey, and I would have liked something to break this up. However, this is a good if not great debut and worth keeping in mind.
Roselands on Myspace
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