Artist: Randolph’s Leap
Title: Moment Passed
Format: digital
Cat#: Fika085SG2
Release date: 8th January 2021
Bandcamp | Spotify
Moment Passed is the second single from Scottish folk-pop collective Randolph’s Leap’s forthcoming album Spirit Level.
“Moment Passed is basically about stress. I wasn't taking proper care of my physical or mental health and the lyrics are a mixture of wanting to change things in my life but simultaneously worrying I was too late. The original demo had deliberately over-the-top autotune on my voice which didn't go down well with the rest of the band [but it did prove the catalyst for my A.R. Pinewood robo-country spinoff album]! We threw a lot at the mix on this one. Pete played glass bottle percussion and everything. Oh, and there's nothing cooler than a cha-cha-cha ending.”
Spirit Level is an upbeat, melodic indie-pop album full of personality, catchy hooks and memorable lyrics, rich in textural, polyphonic arrangements, and capturing the infinite charm of Adam Ross, the leader of this 8-piece band.
As a core songwriter with a large ensemble, Adam Ross may draw comparison with Stephin Merritt or Neil Hannon, while mining the rich Scottish seam of Postcard Records and C86. And as with contemporaries King Creosote or Withered Hand, is unafraid of drawing on folk music’s story telling tradition, detailing the minutiae of life’s fluctuations, here packaged up in glorious, anthemic and energetic pop.
The titular ‘spirit level’ is a steady reference point over what had been an unsettled spell writing the album, with Adam Ross uprooting from a decade in Glasgow to a tauntingly lopsided house in rural Aberdeenshire, navigating his way through shifting phases in his well-being and happiness, and reflecting on the untimely death of two greatly admired acquaintances. That balancing act came in the form of music, in an optimistic, even celebratory, collection of songs.
Recorded over a period of a year in Glasgow with keyboard player Pete MacDonald engineering, mixing and producing the sessions at home, the album went off to mastering in the nick of time: the following night Pete’s flat went Up In Smoke in a massive fire, taking everything bar Pete (and his pet hedgehog, Frida) with it.
“The next generation of witty Scottish indie pop” The Quietus
“A band deserving of every shred of love and success which came Belle & Sebastian's way” The Scotsman
"The Jonathan Richman of Scottish indie" The Herald
Randolph’s Leap started out as a pseudonym for the solo output of Adam Ross, and now includes up to 8 people in the full live band. The debut Randolph’s Leap album, Clumsy Knot, came out in 2014, with another four live and studio albums and a handful of singles across labels Fence Collective, Olive Grove Records and Lost Map. In 2018 a touring theatre show called The Isle of Love was devised around the songs of Randolph’s Leap.
They’ve recorded several Marc Riley sessions, performed at Green Man, T in the Park, Indietracks, and The Edinburgh Fringe, and have toured with The Burning Hell and James Yorkston.
The Randolph’s Leap name is taken from a scenic location on the River Findhorn.
Randolph’s Leap are Adam Ross (songs, vocals, guitar), Adam Armour-Florence (drums), Ali Hendry (trumpet), Andrew MacLellan (guitar), Fraser Gibson (trombone) Heather Fox (violin), Pete MacDonald (keyboards) and Vicki Cole (bass).
“a fantastic, gilded piece of indie pop with slight Americana leanings.” Clash Music [video premiere]
“it takes on that chamber pop feel, bursting forth with horns and various instrumental textures. I won’t deny how much I love the rise and fall of the chorus here, like a roller coaster with a huge lollipop waiting for you at the end” Austin Town Hall