Album Review: Stornoway - Beachcomber's Windowsill

There’s no two-ways about it - this is a record that promises so much in terms of potential and excitement. Stornoway’s inexorable rise shows no signs of slowing down as performances at Radio 1’s Big Weekend and Glastonbury attest. The Stornoway snowball has gathered considerable weight and pace since the band’s appearance on Later with Jools Holland back in November 2009. Both of their performed songs form that night, ‘Zorbing’ and ‘Fuel Up’, made the cut onto their full-length debut, Beachcomber’s Windowsill.

As such, it was with an undeniable sense of anxiety that the record was fired up (albeit digitally) onto my music player and into my ears. Beachcomber’s Windowsill, thankfully, is everything that Stornoway’s promise has hinted at since the get-go. It is a record primed to breaking point with its heartbreaking honesty and lush instrumentation. In my opinion, it is the album of the year and of that there can be no doubt. Let me explain...

Beachcomber’s Windowsill, when played in full, positions itself as something of a quasi-concept album. The lyrical prowess of vocalist Brian Briggs guides the listener on an emotion odyssey from start to finish, from month to month and season to season. This is an important point as this is a record based in the ethereal, with the lyrics casting a visual landscape that seems alien yet familiar all at once. The album finds itself at home with the nautical, the ornithological and the homely. That is the power and beauty of Brigg’s ability as a songwriter. Each track on the album progresses his story, and the tales of those interconnected with him. However, it should be recognised that there is seemingly sparse use of any creative licence in the construction of this record – these are lyrics plucked from the heartstrings of their creator, as his vocal performance confirms.

The record creeks into life with the forthcoming re-released single, ‘Zorbing’. Briggs documents the beginnings of a new romance and the emotion that such an event evokes. “I’ve been singing you this song / inside a bubble / been zorbing through the streets of Cowley.” Gradually bursting into life alongside a crescendo of violin and trumpet, ‘Zorbing’ is set to be one of the feel-good anthems of the summer and sets the tone for the rest of the album.

Beachcomber’s Windowsill kicks up a gear with Stornoway’s recent single, ‘I Saw You Blink’. Originally penned back during the band’s formative months in 2006, it is a track that is quite possibly the quintessential Stornoway track to date. Briggs, ably assisted by Jon Ouin and the South African siblings Steadman (Rob and Ollie) maps out his confusion over the previously established romance. “And I need to know / are you the one / I’ve been waiting for?”

While ‘I Saw You Blink’ stands out as the purest Stornoway track, it is the next track - ‘Fuel Up’ – that cements the listener’s connection with the record’s lyrical discourse. Featuring Briggs at his most soulful and yet powerful, ‘Fuel Up’ documents the pace of a lifetime and the role of friends and lovers within. It takes just under a third of the album for the listener to be fully emerged to this record and, quite frankly, oblivious to anything else that may be happening. Music is always at its most timeless and engaging when it is created on an emotional platform. In this regard, this record is in every way a classic.

The talents of Briggs’ brother, Adam, and long-time collaborator Rahul Satija become evident on the next track, ‘The Cold Harbour Road’. Drawing on Brigg’s ornithological background, the track winds its way around the dynamics of a relationship in a downbeat yet ultimately uplifting fashion. ”I am a seabird / you are the Arctic Ocean / I know your seasons and your sanctuaries.”

Stornoway’s uniqueness is shown in all its brashness on ‘We Are The Battery Human’. A firm favourite of their live shows amongst their followers, it is again a song of lyrical quirkiness tinged with just a hint of genius. Illustrating the manner in which we are a globalised people forever attached to our iPhones and broadband internet connections, Briggs documents the “new generation” – the “battery human.” Aided along by an outright bouncy folk beat mixed with a banjo and some slide guitar – this is a track that will be unsurpassed in its originality and freshness in 2010. “So join the new revolution, revolution / to free the battery human / ‘cos we were born to be free-range, free-range.”

The album breaks down at this point and further highlights Briggs’ vocal prowess. His is a voice that is inherently different to anything else around, something that proves itself to be an extremely likeable property as the record progress. ‘Here Comes The Blackout…!” is a sing-along in the oldest manner of the word and will prove to be a favourite amongst many of the band’s new converts.Meanwhile, ‘Watching Birds’ stands as a complete and utter departure in its loudness and faster pace, yet it certainly works as something of a curveball.

Beachcomber’s Windowsill winds to a close with two songs of outstanding beauty. Firstly, ‘End Of The Movie’ feels like a mini-journey within itself – a brief tour, an insight into a complex relationship that provokes the listener to use it as a soundtrack to their own collection of emotional memories. Satija’s violin beautifully accompanies this gently-paced number which is strewn with layers and harmonies - “I was blown away with the feeling I was starring / starring in a film which you were leading.”

The album reaches its natural end with the phenomenal ‘Long Distance Lullaby’ which, again, finds its relevance in the straight-talking and honest nature of its lyrics - “I wish I could teleport you here tonight to say / goodnight soulmate / I know I’m in no state / to call you up / and keep you up so late.”

Beachcomber’s Windowsill, even though we’re only into late May, will be the essential record of 2010. Time will test its longevity, yet every dimension of it displays a sense of timeless beauty and honesty. Stornoway have achieved something truly and legitimately special with their debut, and if they continue in the same vein will not remain as Britain’s best-kept secret for much longer. They’re about to explode, much in the way you feel Brigg’s heart might at any point during the record. The superlatives have been plentiful in this review yet not one can be labeled as an indulgence or excessive, each one is a testament to the sheer quality of this record. A work of power and engaging quality, one that has encapsulated the power and likeability of Stornoway’s live performances – Beachcomber’s Windowsill is a true success.