Loch Lomond makes a very instrumentally complex offshoot of folk, their strings and synths a nice counterpoint to the bare-bones guitar and drums much of the rest of folk has to offer. “Pens From Spain” twirls steadily through bells, ecstatic vocal harmonies, and careening strings, anchoring itself on plain fingerpicked guitar in the meanwhile. It’s sedate, carefully expanding folk, slowly but surely allowing light and color until the whole thing is in bloom.
“‘Pens From Spain,’ the title track of our new record, was written and recorded all on one rainy Saturday at Peter Broderick’s studio in Pacific City, Oregon,” says Loch Lomond centerpiece Ritchie Young. “We didn’t discuss a strategy at all; it was as if we had played the song for ever and we were finally getting around to making a proper recording of it. Truly a magical day on the Oregon coast.”
Pens From Spain releases September 2nd on Hush Records.