Aptly titled Bight Circumstance, Ross Wilson’s latest album – released under his band monicker, Blue Rose Code – is a largely energetic affair, wreathed in swagger and personality. It is, arguably, his most layered, dynamic offering to date, mixing pathos with optimism and reflection with hope.
Across his six previous studio releases, Edinburgh-born Ross has built a reputation for combining tales of aching sorrow and gritty realism with heartfelt execution. He is, through an alt-folk lens, a smouldering ember of his Scottish roots and emotive past. Last year’s Ten Years Grace album was a selection of songs spanning his decade as a musician, all re-recorded solo with sparse guitar and piano. On reflection, you could say it signified the end of a chapter – Bright Circumstance marking the beginning of something new.
Ross has conjured a sound that appears to come, in part, from the grand tradition of classic folk songwriters such as John Martyn and Richard Thompson, through to the delicate acoustic meanderings of Glen Hansard. For a more contemporary comparison, consider Arborist or King Creosote, who likewise wear their Celtic credentials with pride and offer a similarly soulful take on modern folk arrangements.
We spoke to Ross to get his thoughts on some of the fundamental influences on his life and his music.
DS: Your background, your Scottish roots, shine through vividly in your sound. How do you feel your national heritage has shaped you?
Ross: “Above all, I value authenticity in the music I listen to. The Scottish thing is interesting because I’ve always tried to make sure I sing in my accent. I grew up in the middle of Edinburgh – Trainspotting country – so it wasn’t the bucolic Roamin’ in the Gloamin’ that your nan’s tea towel would depict.
Being Scottish, for me, was about struggle and working class agency. It was about city troubles, not romantic evocation. I ran away to London when I was in my early twenties and that had the most profound effect on the man I became. I learnt more about my Scottish identity in exile than I ever did at home.”
DS: Social and political issues run consistently through your music too. Do you feel that society has become apathetic? Are we due a rebellion?
Ross: “It’s undeniable that we’ve lived through more than a generation of unprecedented comfort. The only thing I really remember people taking to the streets about was the Iraq war. Very few people have a living memory of the existential threat of war on our doorstep – and ‘those who forget history are doomed to repeat it’. Alas, suffering is the great motivator. Life is getting tougher and tougher for low income individuals and families. We’re the sixth richest economy in the world and yet one in five kids live in poverty.
I’m not sure we’re apathetic. I believe we’ve been lulled into a sense of powerlessness. Like democracy is meaningless because ‘they’re all the same’. Let me tell you, whatever your thoughts on the current Labour Party, this 14 years of Tory asset-stripping has been a disaster for people on low incomes. The Labour Party would not have managed the decline of public services, ensuring that companies make record profits while receiving eye-watering subsidies and bail-outs. Are we due a rebellion? It’s long overdue. Artists just need to rediscover their voices and self-confidence in calling out what’s right and wrong.”
DS: You’ve spoken openly about your past challenges with addiction. Would you mind telling us how music helped your transition through those difficult times, if indeed it did?
Ross: “I had a drink problem for years. It blocked me from achieving who I wanted to be. I go to meetings now and I don’t drink. It’s one day at a time. I don’t know that music helped me and, in fact, I gave up music for a good few years because I was scared of the places it took me. The truth is, writing and singing are fundamental, integral parts of me, I just had to work out how to stay stopped-drinking. “
DS: Not to pigeonholes you but it seems there are elements of folk in your sound, around which there’s a big revival brewing right now. How would you characterise your music, your narrative?
Ross: “I’ve always wished I’d learned the piano, to play it properly. I never had the discipline nor the patience. The guitar, I picked up and, fairly quickly, I could tell people who I was. I could sing my story. It’s so compelling for anyone who has that deep need for self-expression. The guitar will never go away. Anyway, we’re headlining Sunday night at Cambridge Folk Festival this year so I guess we must be folk. “
Support the artist
Listen to Blue Rose Code on bandcamp and follow them on Instagram.
