Maybe it was partly forced on them by the absurd complexity of trying to record a six-piece band under COVID regulations that were no sooner adopted than changed. But there’s a definite sense of urgency to many of the songs on ‘Read The Sky’ that serves them very well.
Politically, they’re expressing themselves in ‘greener’ terms now, both in anger and in elegy. The closing track on the new album, “The Time Is Now”, was released to coincide with the COP26 conference in Glasgow and premiered on the BBC Radio 2 Folk Show. Listen to “The Time Is Now” here:
If anything, the band’s story-telling, with tales from Hong Kong to Huddersfield, has become more personal and more emotional.
“We absolutely cannot wait to get out playing our songs live again. As well as performing new tracks from our recent No.1 album ‘Read The Sky’ live for the very first time,’ we will be bringing out all the big guns plus a few cast-iron fan favourites. Everybody has missed live music so much these past couple of years – we plan on doing our level best to make sure these UK shows are something truly unforgettable.”
Oysterband frontman John Jones