Single review: BIG COUNTRY REDUX – Winter Sky

Big Country Redux return with ‘Winter Sky’, the latest single taken from their forthcoming album ‘Eastworld’, due for release on September 18. The track was originally written by Watson and Stuart Adamson during sessions for the band’s 1984 album ‘Steeltown’, created at short notice as a B-side for ‘Just A Shadow’.

For this new recording, Bruce Watson has revisited and expanded the original arrangement. The track features Seonaid Aitken on fiddle and Mick MacNeil of Simple Minds on accordion, along with the rest of Big Country Redux, Bruce’s son Jamie Watson (rhythm guitar, vocals), Tommie Paxton (vocals, rhythm guitar), Chris Stones (bass) and Reece Dobbi (drums).

The song has a Cajun meets country feel and is certainly not a typical Big Country sounding tune. Tommie Paxton fits the band’s sound well and is not that dissimilar to Stuart Adamson in sound.

The album arrives during a significant year for Big Country, marking 45 years since Stuart Adamson and Bruce Watson began their musical partnership, 40 years since the release of ‘The Seer’, and 25 years since Adamson’s death. And the reason for adding Redux at the end of the band’s name? Bruce Watson explains that, “Stuart’s words, music, and presence were at the very heart of Big Country. Without him, it can never truly be what it once was. Big Country Redux allows us to acknowledge that, while still performing the music we created as Big Country. It brings clarity, draws a line under recent uncertainty, and it is the right thing to do at this stage.”

Based on this song, and the previously released ‘Eastworld’, the new album promises to have one foot in the band’s past and the other in a more modern sound & feel for the band. An album to look forward to for sure!

Review by Jason Ritchie

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