Creation stories are rarely straightforward, and even the apparently simple task of getting a talented bunch of musicians together to record some songs is often fraught with setbacks. In The Magpie Arc’s case, the major problem was unavoidable: the band began its journey just as the Covid pandemic reared its head. This made the timeworn trajectory of recording, releasing and touring obsolete, for a while at least, and might have contributed to the decision to release the first twelve songs as three separate EPs. Everyone had to find new ways of working, even folk-rock supergroups.
And The Magpie Arc have certainly earned the right to call themselves a supergroup (even if, through modesty or a wish not to be associated with the word’s more bombastic connotations, they eschew that particular descriptor). The current line-up consists of award-winning Nancy Kerr (Vocals, fiddle and strings), world-renowned Martin Simpson (Vocals and electric guitars), Findlay Napier (Vocals, electric and acoustic guitars), the former Albion Band member Tom A Wright (Vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards, programming, electric, acoustic and pedal steel guitars), and Alex Hunter (Electric bass guitar) who doubles as the band’s manager.
Glamour In The Grey is their first full-length and the first chance the band has had to function as a band in the more traditional sense. The result is an album that goes beyond the excellence of those first EPs: the edges are sharper, the interplay between musicians is understandably more well-honed, and the whole thing feels more condensed. There is a mixture of material from the band’s three songwriters and a sprinkling of traditional songs, but the overall sound is impressively coherent. From: https://klofmag.com/2022/11/the-magpie-arc-glamour-in-the-grey/
