Yorkston, if you haven't come across him before, is a peculiarly wry and adaptable folk singer from Scotland. Far from the fey whimsy that might suggest, he's made a name over the past couple of years updating British folk music in much the same way as his labelmate, Will Oldham, has treated American traditions.
For his first new recordings since last year's superb 'Moving Up Country' album, Yorkston strips his sound back to something simpler and rootsier than ever. The lead track is the only original, a gentle rural sex song with some fine banjo and accordion and Yorkston managing to sound both tender and offhand.
Better still, four b-sides (all traditional songs or folk revival covers) include the stunning 'Rosemary Lane', in which the Athletes lock into the sort of bewitching acoustic drone that made last year's 'The Lang Toun' one of the best - if underappreciated - singles in recent memory. Wonderful stuff.
