Over forty years and fourteen albums Runrig have had a truly remarkable career, proudly flying the flag for Scottish traditional music and infusing it with contemporary influences to make something truly unique. However, the band have decided that their journey must come to an end and so ‘the story’ comes with a mixture of sadness and celebration as the band bring together the elements that have made them so very successful over the years, delivering an eleven track album that truly captures the spirit of the band.
It seems fitting that the album’s opening, title track should open with bassist and vocalist Rory McDonald singing in Gaelic, but this isn’t an exercise in traditionalism and his voice is underscored by a pounding beat and shimmering guitar that pegs the track somewhere between Pink Floyd’s ‘take it back’ and Scottish folk, highlighting the band’s rare ability to capture the modern and the traditional in perfect harmony. It’s a haunting opening track that is tinged with sadness and yet filled with joy and it sets the tone for the album. Similarly paced with Ian Bayne laying down a thunderous backdrop on drums, ‘Onar’ is a near perfect pop track awash with shoegaze guitars and taut bass and there’s a vitality present that belies the band’s forty-odd years in the industry. ‘Rise and fall’ is a lengthy piece of music that takes on an ethereal feel thanks to the gentle sounds that ripple in the background whilst the subtle orchestral arrangements add depth to the composition, the elements combining to give the sense that the song soundtracks an as-yet-unseen film. The music is elegant and wondrous, packed with emotion, and it’s a highlight of an album upon which Runrig consistently raise the bar. The brief, instrumental ‘Elegy’ follows, recalling Sigur Ros with its ambient textures and gorgeous piano melody before the traditional folk of ‘every beating heart sets a smile on the face once more as the band cut loose and have a little fun. The rippling ‘The years we shared’ sees the band heading into the world of reverb-drenched pop, only for lush orchestration to fill out the sound and deliver the sort of cathartic emotional punch that powered the Manic Street preachers’ ‘everything must go’ album so successfully.
The second half of the album opens with the elegiac ‘when the beauty’, a track that draws upon the arty ambience of Sigur Ros and the pop-infused hooks of vintage U2 in equal measure to deliver something truly enigmatic and yet beautiful. Another album highlight appears in the form of the breezy ‘18th July’, which harks back to the pop music of the early eighties with its driving beat, warm vocal and rich harmonies. A truly heart-rending piece of music, ‘An-Duigh Ghabh Mi Cuairt’ is sung in Gaelic and takes on an almost magical feel as a result. Refusing to allow the conclusion of their final album to become overwhelmed with pathos, the band unleash a raucous dance number with ‘The place where the rivers run’, a track to which it is almost impossible not to dance thanks to the interplay between guitar and accordion and the energetic vocals. The album ends with ‘somewhere’, a track that is both poignant and yet full of hope. Nonetheless, as the orchestra swells and the music reaches a crescendo it’s hard to suppress a tear and it’s hard to imagine a more fitting end to either the album or the band’s career, than this elegant, perfect statement.
A rich, emotionally rewarding album, ‘the story’ caps off Runrig’s monumental career with elegance, joy, beauty and sadness. The band pay tribute to their past and yet keep the music forward looking in the same instance and the result is an album that truly challenges the senses. Few bands can lay claim to so wonderful a heritage and even fewer have the opportunity to draw a line under so respected a career in so elegant a fashion, yet, in doing so, Runrig have written their own epitaph capturing all the grandeur, joy and excitement of their career and guaranteeing that the memory will last far into the future. No band could ask for a better monument than ‘the story’ and it serves as both as a fitting tribute to the band and to the bands who have loyally supported them over the years. In short, ‘the story’ is a triumph.
