Roddy Woomble: My Secret Is Silence (Pure UK)

This is a quintessential “kid in a candy store” situation. On his first effort away from his band Idlewild, Woomble spends 45 minutes indulging his passions, poetics and Scottish tradition, while drawing on a wide variety of guest musicians and instrumentation to create a record of folk hooks and heavenly harmonies. The album has acoustic “Idlewild moments,” thanks in large part to the inclusion of guitarist Rod Jones appearing on the majority of the album. “Waverly Steps” and “As Still as I Watch Your Grave” could have been from the sessions for the band’s The Remote Part, as Jones and Woomble take the traditional Idlewild formula and turn it down from 11 to somewhere near seven, adding a fiddle or two and calling it a day. Still, the album is much more than an acoustic installment of Idlewild, with Woomble assembling a variety of traditional musicians, including a fellow Scot in the multi-talented John McCusker as well as English vocalist Kate Rusby. Rusby’s vocals set the proverbial table for Woomble’s celebrated choruses across My Secret, nowhere more so than on the album’s title track. Woomble isn’t afraid to mix it up, with songs like “The Drifter and the Drake” and “Under My Breath” recalling acts as diverse as Minus the Bear and R.E.M., respectively. In fact, I’d be remiss—as well as reprimanded—if I didn’t acknowledge the little bird in my ear continually comparing My Secret Is My Silence to Michael Stipe writing a country album. The record isn’t just a must for Idlewild fans, but also of interest to the folk crowd, mixing in hints that run from Travis to Spirit of the West.