James Yorkston and The Second Hand Orchestra announce album with lead song "Struggle"

"Struggle" is the first taster of The Wide, Wide River, a collaborative album born out of the friendship between Yorkston and conductor of The Second Hand Orchestra, Karl-Jonas Winqvist.

Yorkston says of the new song, "It’s me telling my kids that it’s ok to not be ok, and that indeed, sometimes I struggle."

He adds of the recording process of the track, "The band were sat by in the studio by themselves, looping the verses over and over. I was in the control room, drinking sweet tea. I just had to wait for the right moment and jump on board, like when I’m pushing my kids round on a roundabout in the local park. I love that everyone was singing along so freely when we recorded this. There were vocal mics for everyone, and people would just lean in with a harmony, every now and then. It gives it a very communal feeling."

The Wide, Wide River was recorded and mixed in Sweden over the course of three days. Winqvist recruited various musicians for the project including Pe ter Morén ( Peter, Bjorn & John), Cecilia Österholm (nyckelharpa), Emma Nordenstam (piano and cello) and Ulrika Gyllenberg (violin).

The Second Hand Orchestra improvised the instrumentation to Yorkston's songs, after only hearing one track ("Ella Mary Leather") in advance.

Yorkston's forthcoming album will be his 10th for Domino, and will follow his That Summer, We Flew and other folk, remixed releases that landed on Bandcamp in May and July.

Tracklist:

1. Ella Mary Leather
2. To Soothe Her Wee Bit Sorrows
3. Choices, Like Wild Rivers
4. Struggle
5. There Is No Upside
6. A Droplet Forms
7. A Very Old-Fashioned Blues
8. We Test The Beams