• 

3 July 2012

Andrew Reinholds discusses Scottish indie-folk band Admiral Fallows’ uplifting and slightly riotous new album.

Admiral Fallows are building plenty of momentum back home in Scotland where they are regarded, along with Frightened Rabbit, as one of the key acts currently revitalising the country’s proud folk scene.

Throw in a random piece of trivia that a single off their album (Boots Met My Face) was the soundtrack to a General Electric TVC that played in this year’s American super bowl to an audience of over 113 million, and Admiral Fallows could be on the verge of something altogether bigger and more meaningful.

Which is mightily impressive given this is just their second album, and a wonderfully riotous ride it is too, displaying a wide variety of styles and diverse instrumentation to create an eclectic and stirring collection of indie-folk.

Wide-eyed rocker “The Paper Trench” and the pounding “Guest of the Government” slide seamlessly between the slowed down and melodic touches of “Old Fool” and sentimental closer “Oh, Oscar”.  Somewhere lost in the beer and cigarette smoke is sing-along-anthem-in-waiting “Isn’t This World Enough”.

Central throughout are the delicious harmonies of lead singer and creative force Louis Abbot and Sarah Hayes who also chimes in with flute and accordion when necessary to add depth to the stirring choruses that more often than not climb to stirring heights.

The entire raucous affair is beautifully produced by Franz Ferdinand, Teenage Fanclub and Mogwai supremo Paul Savage, who has helped to maintain a real edge and honesty to a sound with Abbot’s reference to the album’s title as being “the sound and the image of an artillery shell exploding into a cluster of snow drenched trees”.

Upbeat and upraising, Tree Bursts in Snow is a slap in the face of Caledonian reflection that could just as easily be a summery Californian kiss on the cheek. Either way, it will leave you feeling fresh and refreshed for days.