Michael Hann 

James Yuill: Movement in a Storm

James Yuill's second album – a seamless fusion of melancholy melodies and propulsive beats – shows him to be so much more than another folktronica artist, says Michael Hann
  
  


The dreaded term "folktronica" seems inadequate for James Yuill, because his second album does so much more than put beeps and clicks on top of the work of a singer-songwriter: Movement in a Storm is modern pop album that happens to have been made by someone who can also write and play folk music. The dominant sound is not the acoustic guitar, but the throb of synthesised kick drum that propels most of it gently towards the dancefloor. When he does turn to the acoustic, Yuill supplements it with percussion and synths (Sing Me a Song), or the unexpected organ that jolts the listener on Foreign Shore. And when he puts folk and dance together, as on close Taller Son, it's treat. Yuill's one weakness is his unexceptional voice, but he has an ability to create melting melodies – at times there's a purity that recalls Vince Clarke's songs for Depeche Mode and Yazoo – with enough melancholy to suggest hidden depths. A pleasure indeed.

 

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