Aberdeen guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Kevin Robertson channels The Byrds & Co on his new album, Yellow Painted Moon.  It’s accomplished, it’s authentic and it’s utterly, utterly amazing!

Release Date:  Out Now

Label: Self Release

Formats: CD / Digital

JANGLY PSYCHEDELIA

Sometimes, an artist of genius just slips through the net.  Aberdeen-based guitarist/ vocalist/ songwriter Kevin Robertson is a new name to me.  Of course, it’s possible that you’ve been paying more attention than I have and that you’re already aware of Kevin’s pedigree.  But, for those who, like me, are discovering Kevin Robertson and his amazing music for the first time, let me provide a bit of background.

Kevin’s day job is as a guitarist/vocalist with Aberdeen jangle-pop outfit, The Vapour Trails, with whom he’s recorded two albums, but his solo career is also well-established.  In fact, Yellow Painted Moon is his fifth solo album; it follows hot on the heels of his 2024 offering, The Call of the Sea.  Whether its with The Vapour Trails, or whether he’s flying solo, Kevin’s stock-in-trade is jangly, psychedelic late 60s/ early 70s pop that channels the influences of bands like Buffalo Springfield, Love and – particularly – The Byrds.  And – you know what? – he’s a master of the genre.

REVIVING THOSE HEADY SUMMER DAYS OF ’65 TO ’71...

For Yellow Painted Moon Kevin plays guitars, synth and harmonica.  He’s helped out by brother and co-Vapour Trailer Scott Robertson who plays bass, electric guitar and keyboards and provides backing vocals, and by drummer Nick Bertling – who’s not averse to slipping out from behind the kit to double up on guitar, bass and keys and to play a bit of melodica. The result is a magnificent album that revives those heady, summery days of ’65 to ’71 with accomplishment and authenticity and also reaps the benefits of 2020s recording technology.

THE BYRDS ARE HERE…

The Byrds’ influence is instantly recognizable on opening track, We Found the Summer, even though Kevin’s lyrical reference to Aberdeen moves the location from SoCal to North—East Scotland.  It’s all here: the warm harmony vocals, the crisp drumbeat and, of course, the Rickenbacker jangle.  And it’s all underpinned by a rich, soothing, organ groove.

The jangles and harmonies are still here for the magnificent Message of Love, but the soaring, whooping bassline and the splashes of backwards guitar herald a move towards psychedelia, a move that’s emphasized by lyrics like: “A message of love – let it ruminate round your mind.”  But the country feel to Of The Night indicates that we’ve never been too far away from the pull of The Byrds.  The slide guitar fills replicate the pedal steel sound (or, perhaps more accurately, Clarence White’s StringBender…) and the whole thing is bursting with summer vibrancy.

BEWARE OF QUICKSAND!

There’s a soulful feel to the smooth-yet-punchy Kings of Most of Yesterday.  Built around a sparkly guitar motif, it’s a song with a dreamy psychedelic chorus and features some fine guitar solos.  However, Kevin’s suggestion that: “Change it has to come but, you know, legends live and die.  The kings of most of yesterday shall fall” seems premature, bearing in mind the way that the influence of such ‘kings’ pervades this album…

The jangles are back for Travelling Band, and they call the shots as Kevin sings of his life-on-the-road experiences.  And, when the break comes, things start to get seriously heavy.  By way of contrast, the 60s folk-rock of Quicksand sounds as fresh here as it did on the day that The Byrds invented it.  The song starts simply with an acoustic guitar, but things soon get intense, before we’re warned: “Beware of Quicksand!”

2:50 OF 60s PSYCHEDELIC BLISS

A short, sharp drum lick introduces the excellent Status Trail, a song that channels Donovan, circa 1967, just after he’d taken the West Coast folk-rock message on board.  It’s a wonderful 2:50 of 60s psychedelic bliss!  And the influence of The Byrds is unmistakable in the divine Eyes Like the Sun.  The slide guitar bits are a nice contrast to the jangles that dominate and it’s so hard to believe that those are not the harmonies of McGuinn, Crosby and Clark…

City Come Alive is another song that takes the sound and climate of Western California and transposes them to Aberdeen, without loosing a single drop of the sheer scorching joy, before Feeling Slow takes us back to the days when psychedelic dust was first starting to be sprinkled.  The only difference is the depth of sound that Kevin and his pals achieve here, by taking full advantage of 2020s studio technology.

FLIP BACK AND START AGAIN!

There’s a big sound to finish.  Searing feedback, heavy guitars and solid bass indicate that Kevin is also an admirer of Neil Young & Crazy Horse.  And he captures that sound – right down to the extended feedback coda – without sounding derivative or disrespectful.  And, after a song – and an album – like that, there’s only one thing to do, and that’s to flip the disc back over and start again – at Side one, Track one.

Yellow Painted Moon is accomplished, authentic and utterly, utterly, amazing. You know – I think I might have just heard my album of the year. 

Listen to Status Trail – a track from the album – below:

Kevin Robertson online: Instagram / YouTube / Bandcamp

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