James Yorkston will release his new album The Route To The Harmonium on Feb 22, 2019. Produced by Yorkston and David Wrench (Frank Ocean, FKA Twigs, David Byrne), it is James’ first solo record since 2014’s Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society (CRAWS) and follows 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.

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…”

James Yorkston
The Route To The Harmonium
Tracklisting
Domino Records

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