CELTIC CONNECTIONS
Emma Pollock
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Alan Morrison
Four stars
As the calendar dates were crossed off in the lead-up to Emma Pollock’s first full-band gig for quite some time, rave reviews for her new album In Search Of Harperfield were pouring into the Chemikal Underground office. There probably hasn’t been this much buzz around Pollock since The Delgados were in their indie heyday.
A notable occasion such as this deserved a special effort, and that could be seen in the sheer number of people on stage. Pollock’s own band consisting of Jamie Savage (keys, guitars), Graeme Smillie (bass, keys) and Jonny Scott (drums) were joined by backing vocalists Jill O’Sullivan and Jenny Reeve of Bdy_Prts (adding Spectoresque girl band atmospherics), the Cairn String Quartet (broadening the new songs’ textures with smooth harmonics and pizzicato plucks) and guest artists RM Hubbert and Siobhan Wilson.
At the centre of it all was Pollock herself, her voice holding the room spellbound in its new-found maturity, particularly when at its most exposed on Intermission, Half Light and Dark Skies. It was an on-stage set-up that did justice to the songwriting ambition and perfectionist production of the new album.
No two songs seemed to require the same live arrangement and so, while the performances weren’t under-rehearsed, the transition between them occasionally was, as players swapped instruments and tuning up slowed the flow. Logically enough, older solo album favourites such as I Could Be A Saint, Hug The Harbour and Confessions relied on the core indie band, while the string dynamics tended to come into play on the new material.
But when the full combined force was released – on an emotionally epic Old Ghosts and set-closer Paper And Glue – the results were absolutely uplifting.
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