Second single from Newfoundland singer/ songwriter Alan Doyle’s forthcoming album – and it’s another corker!
Release Date: 12th January 2024
Label: Skinner’s Hill Music
Formats: Digital
Just about a month or so ago, I remarked that 2024 is shaping up to be a big year in the world of Newfoundland singer/ songwriter Alan Doyle, and so it’s turning out to be. Alan’s latest single is the second track to be extracted from his forthcoming album, Welcome Home. The first, the album’s title track, hit the airwaves on 10th November – and the album itself is scheduled for release on 9th February. You can bet your dad’s old wellies that we’ll be giving it a deep listen and sharing our thoughts within these pages. And that’s not all – Alan also has a marathon 44-date North American tour in the offing; it kicks off in Kelowna, British Columbia and runs until mid-May, when it’s scheduled to wind up in Homer, New York.
Alan Doyle is, perhaps, best known as the frontman with Great Big Sea, the raucous Canadian folk-rock ensemble with a penchant for rabble-rousing shanties, although his extensive CV also includes such diverse activities as acting roles alongside the likes of Cate Blanchett, Kevin Durand, Scott Grimes, Will Smith and Colin Farrell and compositional assignments alongside Mike Post. He isn’t an easy chap to pigeonhole, that’s for sure, and, from the samples that we’ve heard so far from the forthcoming album, we can expect to see yet another facet of Alan Doyle establishing itself.
Back in November, we used “fresh, vibrant and full of joy” to describe Alan’s previous single, Welcome Home. The new single, Yours and Mine is another joyful offering, but, this time around, the Celtic trappings – particularly the fiddle and accordion – have been pared back, as Alan assumes an altogether more thoughtful mood. As Alan himself says: “This one’s about being a parent and watching children growing and going… and hoping you stay with them when they do.” That’s a sentiment that, I suspect, will pluck a few heartstrings amongst many of our readers and amongst many of Alan’s listeners and, with lines like: “I’ve seen you crawl, I’ve seen you run, I’ve seen the rising of the sun, yet it passes you in the blink of an eye” and “No, you’ll never walk alone, take me with you when you go, and every night the stars will shine: Yours and mine,” it’s a sentiment that, with his lyrics, Alan has managed to trap, distill and bottle.
And Alan’s tune has a wonderful mellowness. His band is on top form as they supplement his acoustic guitar with splashings of electric guitar, sprinklings of piano and swirls of organ. And I think I can hear a few symphonic strings in there, too. The rhythm section is rock solid and the whole thing has a gloriously calming effect that suits those lyrical sentiments perfectly.
I suggested that previous single, Welcome Home was “Impossible to dislike and impossible to ignore.” Those words apply equally to Yours And Mine; I’d also add that it’s impossible avoid singing along. Welcome Home: The Album will be with us shortly. 2024 is already starting to look like an exciting year – for Alan Doyle; for all of us!
You can listen to Yours and Mine here:
Alan Doyle online: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / X (formerly Twitter) / YouTube / Spotify
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Categories: Single Review
