The Amber Gatherers

alasdair roberts is a scottish singer and guitarist. raised in callander, central scotland, he has been based in glasgow for the past ten years. his first releases consisted of home-made four-track recordings of his songs under the name appendix out. alasdair roberts bounces back with a bright and shiny new record, 'the amber gatherers' which is the follow up to 2005's tragic ballads album 'no earthly man'. he's an old friend of hero will oldham (will has produced several of his past records), and that's extremely apparent from the first chords of the opening track, 'riddle me this'. his fourth full length release is an eleven-song collection of melodic, folk-y tunes. although his voice is brighter and more tuneful than oldhams's, this could otherwise easily be a bonnie prince billy release. despite the various instruments, 'the amber gatherers' feels like a simple scottish folk album with its themes of nature's beauty and death's grim inevitability.