Stornoway’s new album, Bonxie, takes its title from a nickname for the great skua, a large seabird. How quaint, environmentally inclined fans of the folk band might think, until discovering that the great skua is an “aggressive pirate of the seas, deliberately harassing birds as large as gannets to steal a free meal”, and also known for killing and eating smaller birds such as puffins, according to the RSPB.
As much as nature is beautiful and bucolic, it is also brutal, bloodthirsty and belligerent. Much like their 2010 debut, Beachcomber’s Windowsill, the album reflects the band’s passion for the outdoors in all of its joyful, mournful glory, with its sounds sampled on tracks such as We Were Giants and Lost Youth.
Bonxie is due to be released on 13 April on Cooking Vinyl, but before that, take a listen here and let us know what you make of it.
