Edinburgh musician/poet/novelist Andrew Ferguson returns, with a new issue to discuss.  Last year, he asked us to consider the definition and scope of folk music; this time around, his chosen subject is First World Problems.

ANDREW FERGUSON AS SAISA

Every time Edinburgh musician/poet/novelist Andrew Ferguson releases new material via his SAISA (Songs in a Scottish Accent) project, he makes sure that he has a point to make.  Back in 2023, Andrew took time out to reflect upon his personal experiences, memories and emotions and to speculate on what the future might hold for him.  Those musings formed the basis for his album, Home At Last.  Then, just last year, he challenged us with the perma-perplexing question: What is folk music?  That topic was the inspiration for his 2025 album, Different Kinds Of Folk.

This time around, the subject that’s praying on Andrew’s mind relates to the changes that are going on around him: mortality, shifts in economic wealth, industrial decline and the impacts of such issues upon those affected.  All this, and more, provides the overlying theme for Andrew’s new album, First World Problems.

As with his previous albums, multi-instrumentalist Andrew is joined on First World Problems by his mate, Graham Crawford, on drums, sax and vocals, and the pair explore a wide range of musical styles from full-on rock to gentle, acoustic folk – and back again.

SAVAGE AND INTIMATE

Andrew is gentle with us at first.  Opening track, Williamstown Blues, is a soft, bluesy shuffle, with Andrew playing his guitars and spluttering out his lyrics to a primitive rhythm.  But, in a way, he’s setting the scene for the album, by bringing the flavours of depression-era Chicago to suburban Edinburgh.

Bright-sounding guitar and howls of pedal steel provide the backing for the album’s title track.  Graham plays a soft-show rhythm on his kit and Andrew delivers his lyrics – pitying of himself and others – in a tone that is savage, yet intimate.  Electric guitar and bass provide a mellower sound for the otherwise-sparse State of Me as, with lyrics like: “All these things – maybe a dozen more – brought about the state of me,” Andrew recalls events and experiences that left him as the person he has become.

Musical frills are in short supply, though, for the starkly blunt I Believe.  Choirlike vocal tones and a sharply-struck piano provide the backing as, with words like: “I believe there’s a force for evil.  I believe there’s a force for good.  Don’t believe that we should go to the devil.  Don’t believe that we ever should,” Andrew heads directly for the point that he wants to make.

HOPE FROM DESPAIR

The subject matter of For Tomorrow is close to home, both literally and figuratively.  Andrew’s lyrics bemoan the social decay and degradation of his home territory, but celebrate the impact that music is able to have on people’s outlook and attitudes.  It’s a powerful song and Andrew’s lyrics will resonate with many who take the trouble to listen.  Indeed, Andrew has a real knack of offering rays of hope, even when the situations that he describes seem unredeemable, and he exercises that knack, once again, for By the Time – a sad song of parting.

Impending departure also provides the theme for Slipping Away, one of the album’s more overtly folky cuts, before the mood lifts significantly for the tongue-in-cheek farewell Elizabeth.  It’s another song of parting, but the scenarios described in Andrew’s lyrics have an element of humour about them – a sense that’s accentuated by Andrew’s quasi-talking blues delivery.

The observational Until We Meet Again is an album highlight.  Andrew’s description of the state of life in provincial Britain could apply to so many towns and cities that don’t happen to be called ‘London.’  The tune is wistful and almost melodic, with a variety of guitars providing a soothing backing to Andrew’s gritty vocals.

THINGS ARE BAD – BUT THEY COULD BE WORSE…

First World Problems is an album of musical variety and Cut and Run is, by some distance, the album’s rockiest track.  Graham’s drums are rock solid; the guitars provide the grit and Andrew’s howling harmonica piles on the sleaze.  Lyrically, it’s the usual story of hopelessness and despair and those emotions are given a further dose of authenticity by Graham’s mournful sax.

Andrew saves the best until the end.  The biting A Young Mother’s Eyes was inspired by a recent trip that Andrew took to Cambodia, where he witnessed scenes of poverty, cruelty and neglect that helped put the stories of misfortune and deprivation that otherwise dominate this album into sharp perspective.  First-hand observation of the lack of educational opportunities for the local children prompted Andrew to write lines like: “Ah – you’re just passing through, it’s not up to you.  Buy the kids books – hopefully they’ll reach for the skies.  Look away from the gratitude in a young mother’s eyes.”  Things are bad, we all know.  But they could be a whole lot worse.

Andrew Ferguson as SAISA: Bandcamp

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