Amorino
Following excellent reviews (press quotes below) for her recent solo album, There Is No Other, released earlier this year, Isobel Campbell will reissue her third and fourth solo albums, Amorino and Milkwhite Sheets on 20th November via Cooking Vinyl. Both albums are being re-issued on vinyl in gatefold sleeves and will also be available on CD. “Yearning” will be available as an instant grat (and streaming) when you pre-order Milkwhite Sheets and “The Breeze Whispered Your Name” will be available as an instant grat when you pre-order Amorino. Self-produced and funded by Campbell, Amorino was originally released on 7th October 2003 and is the third solo album from the former Belle & Sebastian member. Obsessed with French New Wave, chanson, vintage European cinema, the beat girls and boys of the 1960’s, White Horses by Jacky, Peter Sellers and the bossa nova of Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, Campbell, alongside fellow maverick composer and Scottish national treasure Bill Wells set about making their homage to such things. They had a lot of fun, hired a lot of jazzers and still remain the closest of friends to this day. Also produced by Campbell, Milkwhite Sheets was released on 23rd October 2006 following her Mercury nomination for ‘Ballad Of The Broken Seas’, her first collaboration with Mark Lanegan. Milkwhite Sheets interweaves traditional songs from Appalachia and The British Isles alongside songs written by Campbell. Of the album Campbell says: “When David Tibet introduced me to the recordings of Shirley and Dolly Collins I was instantly transfixed. I’d never heard anything so beautiful in my life, so raw and honest, it led me onwards to discover Davey Graham and Anne Briggs and the recordings of Jean Ritchie and more. I couldn’t hear enough. I feel them so deeply and the humanity and breadth of experience they encompass. My whole life everything has always been about the songs. And as a writer listening, absorbing and learning about these magical, mysterious treasures taught and inspired so much, I honestly think some of these ancient folk songs are some of the most beautiful to ever grace the earth. They spoke to me in a way I’d never experienced prior and never will again. I was grateful David Tibet assisted me in deciding the album title over dinner in Glasgow one night. And stoked to have Alex Neilson drumming.” Isobel Campbell released her most recent solo album, There Is No Other, earlier this year to much critical acclaim: “The Scottish singer-songwriter makes a spine-tingling solo return, applying her diaphanous voice to folk adorned with country, bossa nova and indie-pop.” The Guardian – 4 stars **** “There Is No Other… shows that the softer approach Campbell prefers for her songs doesn’t mean a lack of richness or variety. Besides being vivid demonstrations of her versatility, the girl-group pop of ‘Hey World’, the country-gospel of ‘The Heart Of It All’, and the delicate chamber-folk of ‘Just For Today’ all provide very good reasons to welcome her back.” Uncut – 8/10 “Hush understated psychedelia, much of the record conjuring the ethereal sweetness of Vashti Bunyan or the acoustic stylings of Devendra Banhart.” MOJO “Beautiful… City Of Angels and the lovely Rainbow scatter the light like a mirror-ball in a camper van, the afterglow of sun-bleached afternoons listening to Some Velvet Morning.” Q – 4 stars **** “A reflection of life’s ups and downs, rendered as delightfully dreamy and softly-sung psychedelic folk… A welcome return.” Shindig – 4 Stars **** “Boy do we need her calm, soothing presence: the dreamy meditative Just For Today, the subtle soul of The Heart of It All and the quirky psychedelia of The National Bird Of India.” Sunday Times “A gorgeous solo effort from the former Bella & Sebastian singer.” The Sun – 4 stars **** “A hazy blend of dream-pop and psychedelic-folk, this is very much a vintage Isobel Campbell album, marrying the west coast of Scotland to west coast USA.” Metro – 4 stars **** “An album of drowsily immersive pleasures and slow-burn pay-offs.” Record Collector “As with all her finest work, this is an album which can gently wash over you but also rewards those who plunge fully under. It’s great to finally have her back.” Songwriting Magazine – 4 stars ****
I'd had my fill of Belle & Sebastian by the time Fold Your Hands Child saw release in 2000, and ...
Former Belle & Sebastian member Isobel Campbell's first album under her own name is very similar to the two albums she recorded as the Gentle Waves.
Amorino matches Campbell’s delicate, paper-thin voice effortlessly with a myriad of styles.