Alasdair Roberts

"Alasdair Roberts is the name of the new solo record from the well-known Scottish songwriter, guitarist and singer Alasdair Roberts -- his eighth Drag City Records release under that name... Alasdair Roberts' ten songs are sparse, intimate and concise. The focus throughout is on Alasdair's deft acoustic fingerstyle guitar and his voice. The songs are variously elliptical and gnomic, direct and personal, romantic and tender. There are occasional guest appearances from fellow Glasgow-dwellers Alex South (clarinet), Donald Lindsay (tin whistle) and singing quartet The Crying Lion (Alex Neilson, Lavinia Blackwall, Harry Campbell, Katy Cooper), always to great dramatic effect. In response to the economy of the arrangements, Alasdair's voice pitches down on occasion, enhancing the close feeling of this album -- an environment where even the sounding of percussive stick-clicks signals a dynamic sonic shift. Alasdair has always delighted in a good, dark set of traditional ballads -- the kinds of songs which address human mortality in all its grisly manifestations -- but even in the relative isolation of this almost-solo set, Alasdair shows no sign of the misanthrope; his advocacy for the fellowship of man is always unshakeably present."