Rob St John: Like Alchemy

Hurrah - autumn is finally here. The weather's cold and damp, but it's supposed to be; which makes a nice change from the wash-out that was summer '08.  And what better way to enjoy being being cozy and warm inside on a blustery day than with a preview of the new Rob St John EP, Like Alchemy. Rob's been making small but pretty persistent waves up in Scotland for a while now, and any regular readers of Song, by Toad or the Daily Growl will already be familiar with his work, but for those new to his music, he specialises in fragile, somewhat pastoral alt./new/whatever folk music, all wrapped up in "boutique" handmade packaging.

This new EP marks a bit of a step forward, as it appears he is now actually a full band.  This record was made in one evening - recorded pretty much live - and features harmonium, autoharp, baritone uke, glock, saw (awesome!), cello and double bass, as well as Rob's familiar gentle voice and guitaring.  The record comes out on the 8th of December (released by the lovely Fife Kills: records), but is limited to 250 "hand numbered and stamped recycled card copies".  It'll be avaliable in various indie record shops up north, and for the rest of us we'll be able to find it at Rough Trade, London, but I'd recommend emailing him to pre-order a copy.

It's only four songs long, so Rob's asked (understandably) that I post only one mp3 from the actual release, but I've managed to get my grubby mitts on a live recording of one of the tracks, so hopefully there's enough here to let you judge the music for yourself (though if you ask me, it's a beautiful record).

[audio //www.bearfacedrecords.com/EbMBlog_mp3s/RobStJohn/RobStJohn_PaperShips.mp3]

Rob St John - Paper Ships

[audio //www.bearfacedrecords.com/EbMBlog_mp3s/RobStJohn/RobStJohn_ARedHeron_Live.mp3]

Rob St John - A Red Heron (live)