It might seem a long way down the M6 from Scotland to England, and musically making that journey from success north of the border to UK-wide acclaim can be a long haul.
But that is the journey Broken Chanter (aka David MacGregor) seems likely to traverse with his third long-player under that moniker, Chorus Of Doubt.
Released on legendary Scottish-based Chemikal Underground – which brought the world Mogwai, Bis, Arab Strap, and its founding band The Delgados – the astute label has now snapped up MacGregor to bring his latest album to the world.
The Glaswegian songwriter is no stranger to translating cult success to a wider audience. Previously he fronted jangly pop act Kid Canaveral, who, after forming in 2004, toured the world while releasing three albums; acclaimed debut Shouting At Wildlife paving the way for follow-up Now That You Are A Dancer, which was long-listed for the Scottish Album of the Year Award in 2014.
Following the release of third long-player Faulty Inner Dialogue, the band decided to go on hiatus, leading MacGregor to reinvent himself, introducing his Broken Chanter pseudonym with an eponymous debut album, followed by 2021’s award-winning Catastrophe Hits which made the top 10 in the Scottish Album Chart as well as the top 20 UK Indie Chart – suggesting a cult following ripe for explosion.
The third album perhaps moves further away from the folk music suggested by the “Chanter”, although MacGregor insists that his words only make for folk songs “inasmuch as they tell their own stories.”
Similarly, there’s no Gaelic-language track on Chorus of Doubt’. Instead, lyrically, the album’s title is reflected in tracks like ‘It’s Not Only Raining On You’ and single ‘You’ve Got To Stop Worrying All The Time’ where MacGregor contemplates our “continual navel gazing, saturated by constantly refreshing stimuli and surrendering to distorted self-images created by big tech algorithms”.
Musically, “Broken Chanter” can signify MacGregor in solo mode, but the new album has a fuller band sound, perhaps closest to post-punk melded with choral pop thanks to his core band of bassist Charlotte Printer, Martin Johnston on drums (regular member Audrey Tait missing in action with her other band Franz Ferdinand), and guitar-for-hire Bart Owl, a familiar face from Pictish Trail and any number of cult acts.
Together, MacGregor’s happy band look set to take on the world.
This article originally appeared in the Edinburgh News.
‘Chorus of Doubt’ is available now, while album track ‘Don’t You Think That Something Needs To Be Done?‘ is released as an EP alongside covers of tunes by Ewan MacColl, Ed Pickford, and Woody Guthrie, on November 8, as a download and as a newspaper. (yes, you read that right).
Also chief newshound at Jockrock
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