Rob St. John – Weald

As part of the Edinburgh folk scene, Rob St. John has been quietly scratching out a name for himself for some years now with makeshift gigs, live recordings and 10p bundled singles. As such, some songs on debut album Weald may be familiar, with the likes of the hauntingly beautiful Acid Test or the dark funeral march of Domino offering two differing but equal highlights.

Whether it’s a solitary folk guitar echoing out on Emma’s Dance or the brooding, chiming chug of Rob and cohorts slipping into more ethereal yet driving plains with Sargasso Sea, there’s a multitude of reasons to fall for this record. Coupled with Rob’s delicate, understated vocal delivery, the ghostly otherworld of Weald, a stated direction of the liner notes, has been captured in spades. He may have been overshadowed by a few of his Auld Reekie peers, but Weald really ought to ensure that Rob St. John gets to bathe in a little more limelight.