Review Summary: Confident, ambitious and captivating.
Fatherson- I Am An Island.
Scotland has produced a wide variety of very talented musical talents over the years. Artists such as Franz Ferdinand, Idlewild, Primal Scream, Mogwai, Alestorm, The Fratellis, Travis, Texas, Deacon Blue, Simple Minds, Annie Lennox, Paolo Nutini and quite possibly the most successful of the bunch currently, Biffy Clyro.
Fatherson are looking to continue this trend. And with the quality on display with their debut album, my money is on these guys slowly rising through the ranks and eventually challenging for the top spot.
Hailing from Glasgow, they have slowly built a reputation from supporting such bands as, Panic at the Disco, Idlewild, Feeder and more recently Enter Shikari. They have also played at Scotland’s biggest musical festival T in the Park.
So with the release of their debut album in April of 2014, Fatherson are looking to capitalise on a recent explosion of exposure on mainstream radio and prestigious support slots.
As the title suggests the album centres lyrically on the recurring theme of isolation experienced by lead singer Ross Leighton, he’s certainly got a way of getting his point across, utilising an impressive vocal range and the ability to connect with the listener. Despite being listed as a post rock band, it’s not all clanging guitars; there are moments of pure poignancy with slower numbers that fuse beautifully with crescendos that are tailor-made for arena sized venues, when they eventually reach those dizzy heights.
The whole album is catalysed by lead singer Ross Leighton’s powerful set of Scotch-tinged vocal chords, incendiary opening track ‘An Island’ acts as calm before the storm, a storm that erupts with such precise timing into a hook so raw and emotive, that it’s enough peak interest regarding what’s to follow.
What follows is a soothingly harmonious affair, a fusion of anthem like driving choruses, spiralling melodies and hypnotic charm, all with an indulgent undertone of ambient post-rock and it’s most confident. ‘I Like Not Knowing’ and ‘Lights’ are spritely and uplifting, while ‘James’ and ‘Cat Stevens’ balance swooning balladry and thundering refrains perfectly.
If one thing is to be said of ‘I Am An Island’, it’s that while there are some tracks that instantly lodge into your memory, it isn’t one of those albums that immediately finds its place in your regular rotation. Instead, it treads ever so humbly towards the summit, getting closer and closer with every listen.
Each play of the album brings something new to mind. Whether it’s the pleasant mingling of twin guitars and cello, or Leighton’s truly breathtaking vocals, the guy can seriously sing. Eventually, you will find yourself immersed, with no intention of resisting Fatherson’s elusive charms and ambitions.
‘I Am An Island’ is an utterly captivating and soul-restoring debut. Fatherson are a band with such a variety of skills in their locker that fans from a cross section of British music could soon be citing these Scottish lads as their new favourite act. Anthems, ballads, straight up rockers and pure poetry, Fatherson have it all.
It is endearing debut offering from a band who are on a mission to prove that there is more to their native Kilmarnock than Biffy Clyro, ‘I Am An Island’ is cool, confident and extremely well-composed. Anyone who wants to listen to an accessible modern post rock monstrously ambitious debut record, should set their compass points to I Am An Island.
