STORNOWAY – Beachcomber’s Windowsill

Stornoway’s debut, Beachcomber’s Windowsill, starts off strong with “Zorbing,” a real thing (rolling down a hill in one of those giant inflatable, cushioned hamster balls). Brian Brigg’s vocals are strong from start to finish, and at their best sound a bit like Robin Pecknold’s lofty howl. On this first track, he’s joined by a low-E plucking guitar line and a gregorian chant chorus for backing vocals. As an establishing song, it is effective, catchy and hook-laden — but as an indicator of the album to come, it fails.

These are a scattered 11 songs, shifting from church-like pop purity to angsty jabs like “Watching Birds” (Briggs has a degree in ornithology). There is a lack of focus, attempting and achieving a various amount of sounds (even in “Zorbing” the gregorian chant steps aside to trumpets and violins). Credit for the breadth, but some solid focusing (and perhaps an outside producer) would grant these Cowley-based Brits a few more straight-through listens and a few less skip-button reactions.

As this is their debut, having a hit or miss record isn’t the worst problem. The songs that do work, work well; the ones that don’t, falter mostly in the oddity of instrumentation: On “We Are The Battery Human” the banjo-esque guitar opening is at odds with the choral singing that follows and belies the mood established with the prior five songs. The chorus-vocal choice feels forced and halts any resonance the song may have. Stornoway flourish when Briggs’ vocals are let off the leash, avoid the droll talk-singing that wastes his enviable range, and are left alone; having talent and a strong voice in a frontman isn’t a bad thing.

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