Bonxie is the third studio album by British indie rock band Stornoway. It was released in April 2015 under Cooking Vinyl. The title refers to the great skua seabird, which in Shetland is colloquially referred to as a bonxie. It is one of several references to birds on the album, which also includes birdsong on many of the tracks, in a nod to lead singer Brian Briggs' academic background in ornithology and his love of birds in general.[3]

Bonxie
Studio album by
Released13 April 2015 (2015-04-13)
GenreIndie rock
Length44:42
LabelCooking Vinyl
Stornoway chronology
Tales from Terra Firma
(2013)
Bonxie
(2015)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic85/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

Track listing

edit
No.TitleLength
1."Between the Saltmarsh and the Sea"4:29
2."Get Low"3:39
3."Man On Wire"3:57
4."The Road You Didn't Take"4:19
5."Lost Youth"3:55
6."Sing With Our Senses"3:56
7."We Were Giants"4:19
8."When You're Feeling Gentle"4:13
9."Heart of the Great Alone"4:09
10."Josephine"3:03
11."Love Song of the Beta Male"4:43

Critical reception

edit

The album was generally well received by the British press. Guardian critic Dave Simpson gave it five out of five stars, describing it as 'big music, which deserves the largest stage'.[4] Paul Mardles in the same newspaper said it 'indicates the four-piece's future lies beyond the confines of jaunty folk-pop'.[5] It was also positively reviewed by Q, Mojo, and Uncut magazines.[6]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Metacritic Review". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  2. ^ Monger, Timothy. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  3. ^ Briggs, Brian (10 July 2015). "Stornoway singer Brian Briggs: my favourite British bird songs". The Guardian.
  4. ^ Simpson, Dave (9 April 2015). "Stornoway: Bonxie review – folksy charm and intense joy on their best album yet". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Mardles, Paul (12 April 2015). "Stornaway: Bonxie review – bring on the bird calls". The Observer.
  6. ^ "Bonxie by Stornoway reviews | Any Decent Music". anydecentmusic.com.