Island Family. Pictish Trail

Pictish Trail has featured on this blog with its previous albums. All of them were pre-Covid, so a reflection of work under normal circumstances. Island Family is the result of work during the biggest health crisis in active memory. Perhaps being more secluded accounts for the more esoteric parts in the music. As there is more weirdness on Island Family than ever before. And that is actually a good thing.

Funny thing is that the comparisons made to define Island Family and Pictish Trail all fall on very infertile soil. I don't know a single song from all acts mentioned, barring some Beck songs. Luckily this does not hamper me to listen Island Family with fresh ears. The only thing, potentially, keeping me back is an inner Pictish Trail output comparison. Like I wrote, there may not be much cause for comparison. Johnny Lynch, from the Scottish Isle of Eigg, has, as it were, jumped board and expanded his mind in that act.

On Island Family there seems to be no convention left that he has not gotten rid off. All through the psychedelia, that is a huge chunk of the album, there is a playfulness that allowed Lynch to explore every single option, musically. To go after every sound his synths could well produce and perhaps beyond that capability through combining other effects and instruments.

Promo photo

This results in a sonic adventure, where at all times there is song involved. This not about creating soundscapes and loops for the sake of creating those. No, this is about what a song can contain. Tough rhythms go together with blips and sounds, while a melody is produced by a rhythmically played synth. Only for everything to drop away and create another song within a song, like in the title track.

On the other end of the spectrum a song like 'It Came Back' ties in to what a Belgium band like Balthazar is good at. Combining pop music with electronics and dance. Pictish Trail manages to shatter that image within 'It Came Back' with some devastating noise, interrupting the relative tranquillity. Relative as the song already contains this dangerous undercurrent. It goes to show how diverse the faces of Island Family are. To name a few other names, New Zealand's Pickle Darling, Canada's Astral Swanns, Dutch The Slow Clock and Moon Moon Moon, with Pictish Trail winding up at the extreme side of these one man projects.

The listener is advised to bring an open mind to Island Family. You are bound to be surprised several times and often quite pleasantly. Pictish Trail always has an alternative pop element underneath it all and from there starts its explorations. Electronics play an important role always. In one song this element is worked out more in-depth, in others a rocking side is presented, but always with electronics on the side of things. The best is to just let go and go with Pictish Trail's flow and see how you come out on the other side.

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