After picking up the Best Rock/Alternative Artist accolade at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards, the Scottish-and-proud-enough-to-mainline-their-heritage-into-their-high-octane-hits powerhouse, Culann, have unleashed their inexorable EP, The Songs of Saints & Reivers.
The standout single, City Eternal, may be best enjoyed with a beer in hand in an atmosphere as lively as the anthemics of the unpredictably progressive fervour, but the cocktail of heart-in-throat immersion, tightly wound rhythmic chaos and swaggering hooks is just as sweet listening solo and in stereo.
Listen closely, and you’ll hear the rules of traditional songwriting being torn up and scattered like confetti in the exhilarant alt-rock arrangement, which isn’t afraid to show its histrionic side, pull punches with tumultuous math rock guitars, or cut itself with an edge of Glaswegian indie.
The Songs of Saints & Reivers EP was officially released on September 15; stream it on Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast