Bugs of Wizen Technologies,

Idlewild have continually changed, they’ve explored, consolidated new areas of sound but retained their expertise in the loudness which first brought them to the public’s attention. The new album, Post Electric Blues, probably relies more on the folk/solo work of Roddy Woomble than before, of course, the involvement of Heidi Talbot and John McCusker points towards this.

My favourite song is possibly the final track, Take Me Back In Time. I like the way it spins down with a sense of fatalism. My favourite lyric is ‘when you reach the end of the road, you still need somewhere to go’, it isn’t particularly meaty from a poetic viewpoint but is striking in its context.

Idlewild played Fat Sam’s, Dundee to promote the new album. The first band on the bill were Make Love but we arrived just as they were finishing up, they did not end with a climactic flourish, perhaps in the future, they will endear themselves to me.

Sparrow and the Workshop were next up. They are a three-piece who are based on Glasgow. Singer Jill has a really captivating voice; chillingly, it rings around the room. Devil’s Song is perhaps their signature tune but not all of their songs are so jaunty and energetic.

Idlewild put on a lively performance with a setlist that plucked the more raucous tracks from each of their now extensive back catalogue. Many of those earlier songs sound so much better now that Roddy’s voice has aged and I think there is a case for re-recording songs like Little Discourage, These Wooden Ideas and, especially, When I Argue I See Shapes.

This was the setlist:

City Hall

Younger Than America

Little Discourage

I Don't Have The Map

These Wooden Ideas

Roseability

Idea Track

No Emotion

A Ghost In The Arcade

Actually, It's Darkness

When I Argue I See Shapes

Post Electric

Annihilate Now!

You Held The World In Your Arms

Blame It On The Obvious Ways

Too Long Awake

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Readers & Writers

A Modern Way Of Letting Go

I stood next to a man who used the ‘What song is this?’ application on his iPhone on every song. No titles matched every song, so he tried to work it out based on the Idlewild songs stored on his iPhone but he only had The Remote Part album. I was perhaps too nosy, I thought that his lack of success in naming the songs would have hampered his enjoyment but the wrote an SMS later which begun, ‘Idlewild are really very good…’ The most amusing part of this man’s confusion was the fact that he was stood by the mixing desk where the setlist was clearly visible.

Idlewild are one of Scotland’s treasures; like Belle & Sebastian and Teenage Fanclub, they’re prolific, they sit just outside the mainstream public’s consciousness but they’re still adored by those who know what’s right. They never disappoint.