Album review: Withered Hand
WITHERED HAND: GOOD NEWS **** SL RECORDS, £10.76
IF YOU didn't know that Withered Hand was an Edinburgh-based troubadour, you might fancy that Dan Willson hails from the Catskill Mountains or Laurel Canyon, so exquisitely mournful is his take on country music. He displays all the tremulous vocal vulnerability of Neil Young in a set of brittle songs which are full of spiritual yearning, questioning and contentment, inspired by his Christian upbringing.
While most of Good News sounds like it was conceived on a front porch or round a campfire, it also encompasses the hectic lo-fi indie strumming of New Dawn, the rockier strains of Joy and the bittersweet charm of Religious Songs ("my hair's getting too long for this congregation"). Worth sharing.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Broken Rangers: Club signals intention to go into administration
- Scottish independence: David Cameron set to snub Alex Salmond’s separation talks bid
- Rangers blame HMRC for driving club to brink of administration
- Six Nations: Steadman given notice as ruthless Robinson seeks to strengthen team
- Six Nations: Wales 27-13 Scotland: Second-half scoring blitz stuns Scots
- Scottish independence: David Cameron set to snub Alex Salmond’s separation talks bid
- Scottish independence: No breakthrough in talks between Alex Salmond and Michael Moore
- The Rumour Mill: Monday’s football news and gossip
- Alex Salmond claims Scottish independence would be good for English regions
- Jim Murphy warns that independence could cost ‘thousands’ of defence jobs
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Edinburgh
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: West
