JAMES EDWYN & THE BORROWED BAND - The Towe

Another home grown offering comes from Glasgow based sextet JAMES EDWYN & THE BORROWED BAND, who were formed in 2013.  The group features Edwyn, alongside Emma Joyce, Scott Keenan, Ronnie Gilmour, Ross McLaughlin and Neil McDonald.
Their debut album, “The Tower” features 12 songs written by the frontman.
McDonald & Gilmour produced the album, at the band’s own “The Cell” studio and at New College Lanarkshire. There was also a session recorded in the Czech Republic, with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, with Roddy Hart guesting on the vocals on “The Last Waltz”.
The album kicks off with an uptempo guitar strumming number, “A New Arrival”, which certainly stirred my interest in the album. It’s followed by the quirky “On Meeting The Man In The Suit”, which kept the tempo up.
“Progress” has quite an upbeat feel to it, with some nice harmonies in the mix. Probably my favourite track on the album. There are a number of slower, more haunting songs, with the harmonies adding nice touches to songs like “Something Cold”
“Epilogue”, is, as you would expect, the closing track to the album. It’s quite an anthem, with a chorus and handclaps from the college students.
They don’t claim to be Country. In fact their bio labels them “a mix of alt country and folk rock roots-orientated Americana”.  Whatever, it’s not a bad listen.