James Yorkston

After breaking away from folk tradition on 2007's The Year of the Leopard, James Yorkston has returned to familiar waters for its follow-up, When the Haar Rolls In. For better or worse, this means the Scottish songsmith is back on his revival kick, channelling the old ghosts of English folk's yesteryear and pronouncing a love for the Pentangle loud and clear. It also means Yorkston is back working with a hefty cast of backing players, who litter the album with mandolins, xylophones, double basses, concertinas, clarinets and you name it. And while this back-to-roots approach isn't necessarily bad, it's not that adventurous either, especially considering the record comes after the avant-garde dabbling of the stark, introspective Leopard. In some ways, When the Haar Rolls In feels like a missed opportunity and would have been best served with Yorkston pushing his sound further forward rather than backwards. Nevertheless, if it's tradition you're after, you could do a whole lot worse.