Scotland-native singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, Adam Naylor, found his way to Edinburgh by way of stints in Alva (his home town), and Glasgow. Writing and performing since sixteen, over the past thirteen years he’s released several albums including, Time Will Tell (2007), Going Places (2009), The Strike of a Chord (2011), and Lost In a Rhythm (2016).
Playing nearly every instrument on his new album, Stories Of Another Time, Adam elicited the help of talented friends, Joanne Renton (fiddle), Ana Luisa Ramos, Scott Renton, and Lindsay Strachan (backing vocals), in order to put the finishing touches on this lively and endearing project.
HERE’S WHAT WE DUG MOST…
Opening with the warm and minimalist, My Fiction Department, Adam’s Scottish timbre delivers an ode to the power and respite of song with little more than a guitar, organ, and touch of harmony…
“I’m slow to wake
You’re gonna have to drag me out or I’ll talk about fiction
I’ll talk about fiction
I’m slow to wake
And these old rusty strings are telling me
It’ll be ok.”
The album’s most accessible writing comes from, I Really Don’t Want To Miss Out, a track inspired by Adam’s train-adventures across Europe. The anticipation and zest for new experiences is connectingly palpable…
“I wish I could look both ways at once
Cause I really don’t want to miss out…”
—I Really Don’t Want To Miss Out
A song of challenging hope, fiddles and vocal harmonies in, Newhaven Harbour Blues, create a nostalgic and melancholy mood in this song about finding your way amidst the doubt and uncertainty…
“Across the country out to Bute
I sit there mapping out the route
You told me it’s a long commute
I told you I’ll be coming through
I see the night falling
It’s just a different point of view
It’s not what I expect to do
Can’t stop my mind racing
It’s just a different point of view
It’s just a different point of view…”
OUR FAVORITE TRACK… Just Like You’s adventurous tempo, progression and writing reveal the truth of this album: This is an album about movement, action, searching, and expression. This is a travelers record. It’s also our favorite song on the project…
“Time has no connection to the life we’re living…”
—Just Like You
The dreamy minor-chord melody in, Looking For Silver, offers another inspired piece of writing; articulately describing the collision that inevitably occurs between youth and history, vigor and age, rebel and captor, freedom and necessity…
“They said climb at your own risk. Be careful
You don’t know what you might find
I’m only looking for silver. I’m only looking for silver
I needed to see for myself. I don’t believe the stories…”
A lovely picking pattern opens the album’s conclusion in, Don’t Get Stranded. Inspired by a visit to Cramond Island (an island only accessible during low tide), this song is also about how important the contact we have with others is to our general state of mental health. This final song’s increasing urgency seems to mirror our current condition well, as we all try to maintain some semblance of connection with one another. It’s our second favorite track.
IN CONCLUSION…
Spirited, lively, acoustic-folk zest. Innocent and enthusiastic. A proactively and admirably positive album in an undeniably trying moment in time. Lending credence to its title, Adam Naylor’s fifth studio album, Stories Of Another Time, has an endearingly rustic quality to it. As if the man himself went back in time—to simpler days when most cared for things worth caring about—in order to write the record.
Musically, Naylor’s choice to bring in background vocalists was right on the money. The added tone and melody provided subtle additions of body and color to the project, having a not-so subtle effect on the presence and life of the music. Overall, five albums in, Naylor shows himself to be a warm-hearted writer, with depth of character, and a talent for showcasing that depth in a light and relatable manner. Check out music from Stories Of Another Time below.
WHOSE LOVECHILD…?
A Scottish iteration of James Taylor meets Patchouli…
BELOW: Listen to music from Adam Naylor’s album, Stories Of Another Time, and connect with his website and social media platforms. Please support Adam Naylor by visiting him online, and playing, downloading, and/or purchasing his music, or attending a live show! And, as always, thank you for supporting real music!
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