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Unkle Bob

Scotland’s Rick Webster, oka Unkle Bob; press photo courtesy of the artist.

Available today, we give you the premiere listen to Unkle Bob’s new album The Highest Mountains made by the talented Rick Webster (producer of Glasgow’s Breakfast MUFF) in a rural barn on the banks of Scotland’s Loch Tay. Following up last year’s The Deepest Sea, Webster brings the restrained beauty with “Try”, the reflective & nostalgic “I Remember”, to the introspective “And I Know”, that then breaks all the hearts on “Give Me the Love”.
“Daylight” emerges like the intimate sunrise of a newly discovered morning with a chance of renewal. The following song “I Watched Your Heart” will bring about all the tears & feels as “Trust” offers up the alternate voice who sings of events previously untold. “Maybe Mediocrity” will make all in attendance weep, as will the following “Love” that then brings the audience the scene of the relationship dissolution with “Breaking Up in Berlin”. The transitional & point to point feeling is exemplified on “The Long Way Home” & furthermore on “Bullets” that rains down a hail storm of personal, guarded yet earnest expressions. Come-downs are chronicled on “Soft Place to Fall” that busts out some big productions while the outro of “Small Piece of the Moon” brings short piano piece that just makes it over the one minute mark.

Rick from Unkle Bob presented us the following exclusive, introductory preface reflecting on the experiences of making The Highest Mountains:

Last February I packed up my entire Glasgow flat, put all my things in storage, and crammed all my musical gear in a tiny car to drive up to the big shed—a community run barn next to Loch Tay in the Highlands. I lived in the attic of the barn for 2 months. It sounds rustic but it was actually fairly modern. Downstairs the barn had a large hall they used mainly for small concerts and yoga. It had a table-tennis table set up in it and a piano in the foyer. That’s where I would go on the days there was no yoga. Set up my mics, pre-amps, my mac and record. It had a great long, sweet reverb that sounded a bit mad in the room, but when I listened back it was crystal clear. I had friends come visit, Eilidh from Breakfast Muff who brought her cello (we would later record Breakfast Muff’s new album in the same room), Scott Cousins from The Deep Red Sky brought his bass and my long time pal and drummer Chris Hardwick brought his drums. Together we made lots of music, ate really good eggs (they had hens), breathed in amazing air, saw some amazing stars, and generally felt okay about things in the sunshine. This mini-album is the story of that room and that place.