Outliers

The title of this collaboration between singer-songwriters Jenny Sturgeon and Boo Hewerdine encapsulates the lockdown experience in which it was forged. In 2020/21, between their homes in Shetland and Glasgow, they shared ideas and music digitally to gradually build the bare bones of an album about those things that lie on the margins.

Sturgeon, known for her work with the band Salt House and for her musical interpretation of the writings of natural history author Nan Shepherd on 2020’s The Living Mountain, brings the same intimate connection with the Scottish natural environment to this record. Hewerdine brings a more experimental and less folk-based vibe. While Sturgeon’s lyrical content dwelling on the natural world of Scotland’s fringes inhabits a similar sonic world to the likes of Karine Polwart and Cara Dillon, Hewerdine’s more psychological meditations feel much more the stuff of the urban café table ruminator. This makes for a record that feels a little dislocated, between two poles, which I suppose is exactly what it was. And just like lockdown itself, the dislocation hasn’t resulted in a totally satisfying experience.