The Scottish Enlightenment have been part of this country’s music scene for nigh on 15 years. They take things very slowly and deliberately, as their full discography demonstrates:-
Eyes (3-track CD single) released in April 2007
Pascal (5-track CD EP) released in May 2010
Little Sleep (5-track CD EP) released in September 2010
St Thomas (11-track CD album) released in November 2010
Strong Force (4-track 7″ EP) released in February 2015 (but consisting of versions of songs from 2010)
Potato Flower (9-track CD/12″LP) released in June 2018
Our Children (3-track CD EP) released in December 2019
The four members during that burst of activity in 2010 were brothers Angus and David Moyes, along with Michael Alexander and David Morrison.
St Thomas, described accurately as brooding, melancholy and heartbreaking, was given a great reception by many critics, and was incredibly popular among the music blogging community in Scotland, which was probably at its peak around that time, with a number of its members subsequently going onto to make something of a career running record labels. I had, and still have, a certain fondness for the album, which musically in places had touches of Arab Strap and Pavement about it, although the vocal delivery of David Moyes is nothing like that of those bands frontmen.
The lengthy delay to Potato Flower was fully acknowledged:-
During the 8 years since St Thomas, some people have died and some people have been born. Nobody lives in the same place anymore. A huge chunk of life has elapsed, ordinary life with the standard dramas, love, fear, grief, hope, all the beauty and ugliness draped over jobs, laundry, bills, breakfast, lunch and tea.
I never got round to buying the second album, primarily as I felt I’d had my fill of downbeat music with a distinctly Scottish bent. So, all I can offer you for today is the lead track from an EP that was also included on the debut album:-
mp3: The Scottish Enlightenment – Little Sleep
It does appear, from the credits on Discogs, as well as the less than cryptic nature of band statement outlined above, that 2018 line-up who made Potato Flower was quite different from the 2010 membership of The Scottish Enlightenment. If there’s anyone out there who can add anything to today’s post, it would be great to hear from you via the comments section.
Many thanks
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 