Judging from his regular newsletters Scotland’s Findlay Napier is a busy, busy man. He has a finger in many pies, his work in the folk supergroup that is The Magpie Arc, an ongoing commitment to song writing workshops, a lecturer on traditional music at Scotland’s Conservatoire (formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, the institution he attended), along with being a sometime stand-up comedian, it’s surprising that he has the time to consider his solo career.
Somehow he’s managed to find the time to record his third fully fledged solo album, some ten years after VIP: Very Interesting Persons, his debut album but only eight years after the follow-up, Glasgow. Both of these albums were quite superb and it’s fair to say that on Outsider Napier has maintained the quality one hoped for. The album is packed with striking songs, all played with flair and determination.
Given the length of time since his last album, Napier had a plethora of songs to choose from for Outsider and he eventually whittled them down to the 12 on show here with the assistance of his long time collaborator Boo Hewerdine, who produced the album and has two co-writing credits here. The album title is, in part, down to the Scottish accent Napier sings with – despite the success of The Proclaimers it’s still relatively rare to hear an accent out with the truly traditional folk scene. In addition, many of the songs are about or inspired by people who considered themselves “outsiders” in one way or another. Napier explains much of this in a companion “coffee table” book which has in depth notes on each of the songs along with music tabs, essays, pictures and access to four more songs. Unfortunately Blabber’n’Smoke doesn’t have the book so we’re relying on the songs.
And what songs they are. Napier relates that some of the sounds he and Hewerdine strived for came via listening to Richard Thompson, in particular the albums Mirror Blue and Mock Tudor. That’s apparent from the rock’n’roll rumble which kicks off Running The Light, the opening song here which has guitarist Neill MacCall turning in a great approximation of Thompson’s Celtic come Nashville guitar strokes. The title track is another rock rumble, almost rockabilly in fact, while An Extensive List Of Lost Things, a fantastic litany of unimportant trivialities which are compared to the singer losing sight of his relationship is not only whip smart but is infused with the spirit of Richard Thompson’s occasional kitchen sink dramas. Another spirit, that of Gerry Rafferty, back in his Humblebum days is recalled on the back lane testament which is Oh Amy.
There’s a coruscating memory of working as a waiter in a fancy diner on Silver Service, a song which is almost vaudevillian but has a sting in its tail. Inky Fingers is much more intimate as Napier describes the intimate thoughts of a potentially devilish schoolboy in thrall to a would be sweetheart while Amberola Blue is, quite simply, the result of a song writing challenge to write a song about an appliance. Napier, fittingly enough, writes about an early record player, designed by Edison to play wax cylinders. Here he harks back to the yearning songs of VIP and that album is again evoked on the wonderful Fidel Castro Five Years Gone. This is a tremendous song which conflates childhood memories and various CIA plots to assassinate Castro and there’s a lovely whiff of Michael Marra in Napier’s delivery. It’s the icing on the cake here as Napier delivers an album which is both exciting and intriguing.