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Review: 'Sister John'
'I Am By Day'   

-  Label: 'Last Night From Glasgow'
-  Genre: 'Indie' -  Release Date: '21.7.21.'

Our Rating:
Sister John are a 4 piece from Glasgow who centre around Amanda McKeown's vocals and song writing as well as featuring some members of Last Night In Glasgow Label mates Gracious Losers.

The opening song I'll Be Your Life immediately recalls for me Super Glider by Drugstore with a cool pulsing guitar that works brilliantly against Amanda McKeown's gently questioning vocals asking if she can even ignore herself.

In My Place has a cool indie folk feel to it as she asks all sorts of questions as to what might have happened and how it might shift her out of her place, this has Little Feat style guitars set against sparsely effective drums and the yearning in Amanda's vocal delivery.

Strange Ideas opens with a slow lament on violin and a gentle pulse to be sung over as the questions, of how to fill the days when there is nothing much to do, while trying to find ways to be happy while sounding sad and disconsolate.

What I Want is a sparse almost techno song with deadpan vocals that remind me of Chicks On Speed, before the funky guitar line comes in, as Amanda tells us over and over again, that she will do What I Want, this sounds like it is ready for any number of quirky and interesting dance re-mixes. This should really be a single.

How Can I Keep it Alive? Is slow and ponderous exploration of what you would do to keep the love alive and how to keep thing interesting, in the stasis of our suddenly empty lives in 2020. I love what sounds like a bagpipe chanter being played and the delicate guitar solo.

The Bud is a slow blooming song of hope for a spring renewal that eventually blossoms as the tune opens out and the band add more color around the central motif.

Died Down is spare and minimal look at how to deal with the nothingness of Lockdown and the contracting of lives into a few rooms and trying to work without disturbing your housemates and find a reason to keep on living.

The Sound Of You is a whispered love song that recalls Stina Nordenstam or Evi Vine at there most bare bones and questioning, with some strings and organ for accompaniment.

Over Again opens with what sounds like a church organ playing a tone in an empty church as Amanda's vocals gently talk about the monotony of doing the same things, over and over again, just like how we keep on breathing, as this very gently builds with careful adornment as they feel like they are slowly sinking further into the morass.

The album closes with Glasgow Is A Rainbow that is a cool slow tribute to the band's hometown with swirling strings and gentle percussion making Glasgow sound like a pretty bucolic place to live, which may be contrary to common perceptions about the city, either way it's a delicious way to close this very pretty album.


Find out more at https://shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com/products/z-sister-john-i-am-by-day-gatefold-vinyl-cd-and-dl?_pos=6&_sid=0d83c429a&_ss=r https://www.facebook.com/sisterjohnmusic


  author: simonovitch

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