Acclaimed Stirling-based group Constant Follower, led by Stephen McAll, and renowned folk guitarist Scott William Urquhart have today announced their forthcoming collaborative album,

‘Even Days Dissolve’, which will be released on 14 April 2023.
The album follows on from Constant Follower’s lauded debut long-player ‘Neither Is, Nor Ever Was’, which was released in 2021 and nominated for the 2022 Scottish Album of the Year
(SAY) Award. ‘Even Days Dissolve’ is an enchanting, deeply absorbing, and meditative album, the product of
a musical affinity between two thoughtful and uniquely talented Scottish songwriters and musicians.

The songs that make up ‘‘Even Days Dissolve’ were inspired by ‘the grand old man of Scottish poetry’, Norman MacCaig (1910-1996), whose work is characterised by its gentle humour, precise observation and love for the natural world, which forms another key theme for the album.
MacCaig’s poetry holds great significance to McAll, as it formed a major source of comfort and support to him during a long period of recovery following a violent and unprovoked attack that left him with catastrophic head injuries, partially paralysed and unable to write or play guitar.

‘Even Days Dissolve’ is McAll’s nod of respect to McCaig, and the great man’s unmistakable words and inimitable voice feature on two of the tracks – single ‘Wildlife Cameraman’, and ‘Comes A Silence (Basking Shark)’ – sensitively set over the backdrop of beautiful and exquisitely crafted songs.
Scott William Urquhart’s masterful acoustic guitar playing is a stunning centrepiece of the album, imbuing the songs with a moving sense of atmosphere, and sounding at once both
elegant and robust. Urquhart’s unassuming yet compelling vocals also feature throughout ‘Even Days Dissolve’.

Lead single ‘Waves Crash Here’ is a gorgeous, arresting opener, with Urquhart’s exquisite folk sound palette embellished with sweeping, moody electric guitar and Constant Follower’s expansive synth lines. On second single ‘Watching The Black River Run’ finger-picked guitar melds beautifully with McAll’s deep vocal, with simpatico harmonies from Constant Follower’s Amy Campbell and the playful piano of Mark Tranmer (of GNAC and the The Montgolfier
Brothers). The electric guitar on the latter track came about serendipitously, provided by Tom Hutchison, a childhood friend of Tranmer’s, after a spontaneous visit to the studio McAll and Tranmer share in Stirling.