The Flood by Wayward Jane

The Flood is the third album from Scotland's folk and roots 4-piece Wayward Jane. It marks the fullest realisation to date of a unique sound that the band have been carefully refining over the last 8 years. Captured at beautiful Heriot Toun in the Scottish Borders, The Flood is a collection of mostly original songs and tunes, which are at once familiar and comforting but also don't belong to any one musical genre. There are strong influences from American folk, old time and the world of thumb-driven acoustic guitar but it is also clearly a recording made by musicians who have come up through the UK/Scottish traditional folk music scene. There is a breadth of feeling and mood on display across the album's twelve tracks drawn from the varied approaches to arrangement and lyrical composition. The result moves fluidly from measured love letters to the band's hometown through dark soundscapes evoking the lonely high plains, to tender moments touching on the sorrow of current global crises and plaintive melodies composed to calm a young child. These sit side by side with traditional American folk numbers and newly penned old timey reels fit for the hollers of the Appalachian mountains. The record was engineered and mixed by friend of the band and audio wizard Graeme Young, with whom Wayward Jane are delighted to be working again. It was skilfully mastered by Sam Proctor who has been behind many classic releases on the contemporary UK folk scene (Bellowhead, Spell Songs, Sam Sweeney). In an age of decreasing connection and attention spans, The Flood is a record to sit down with and let wash over you.

Edinburgh's Wayward Jane formed in 2015; a group of friends who had played together in many guises over the years. The main inspiration for their sound is American old time but with a transatlantic slant that embraces British and Irish musical traditions.

waywardjane.com