I’d sort of forgotten. However I was reminded by social media that thirty eight years ago our first album came out. I’d made a small independent album a few years before and Jim, our keyboard player had played on other people’s albums, but to make our own record had been our ambition. An album was such a permanent thing. A gig happened then quickly disappeared into the ether, but an album, well….no one could take that away.
And so it seems, people still listen, all these years on. For that we’re grateful. But the album as a piece of art is enduring in tough times. The novel, the film, poem and painting have survived and there is no doubt about the endurability of the song, but the record album – twelve songs or more around a loose idea or time – is struggling to keep its head above water.
It’s not that people don’t love music or consume music. They consume it an even faster rate than before, it’s actually because of the volume of music available to all of us that makes the business of listening from beginning to end a slightly onerous task. Then comes the second problem; where to buy them. Leafing through the racks of records in the local store was a lunchtime activity for us as schoolboys growing up in Dundee. Swapping, taping and lending was the way we expanded our record collection. (Apologies now Sheena Matthews – you never got Hunky Dory back).
Streaming, as far as we can estimate, is here to stay. Even for me, an album lover, owning the CD or the vinyl doesn’t preclude opening my laptop or hooking up my phone to the kitchen ghetto blaster and letting Spotify take its algorithmic course. However, occasionally something comes along which demands the full listen from beginning to end and last Friday with a new Eric Church album arriving that moment presented itself. On Saturday morning, as I prepared some lunch for old friends arriving I played Evangeline v The Machine from beginning to end and it did not disappoint. In fact on EC’s record it actually encourages you to keep listening by quietly segueing the tracks. It’s a great listen and gently moves the dial of country music one more time to create a new thing which, I’m delighted to say, is always fresh when Eric Church is at the helm. On this week’s show I’ll play a couple of key tracks from the record which might make you do what I will be doing as soon as I get into town next week: picking up a physical copy.
On last week’s show we played Eric Church followed by Avery Annna as they both referenced Monsters beneath their beds. On this week’s show we’ll be playing out a conversation with Avery I recorded during her visit to C2C in March. Her new album comes out a week on Friday and it’s based around fan letters she has received over the last couple of years. Titled Let Go Letters it promises to be another piece of work you’ll want to listen to from beginning to end. Listen in as we talk through letters and more this Tuesday from eight. Join me on BBC Radio Scotland or BBC Sounds if you can.