Stornoway – Watching Birds

While the opening bars of this Stornoway single lead the listener to believe that they’re about to be taken along a ‘Sultans of Swing’ path, ‘Watching Birds’ soon develops into something a little more traditional than the Dire Straits number of yesteryear. Unfortunately, what unfolds thereafter falls a long way short of the Oxford collective’s best work.

While previous singles like ‘Zorbing’ and ‘I Saw You Blink’ had a real sense of charm and heart about them, ‘Watching Birds’ fails to hit the spot in the same way as its predecessors. It’s arguably the fastest-paced number in the band’s locker, but this particular execution of the song merely illustrates that Brian Briggs isn’t as well suited to this style of vocal delivery as he is to a slower, more measured approach, like the one he employs for most of the band’s debut album, ‘Beachcomber’s Windowsill’.

The changes of tempo between the verses and the bridge, and then again between the bridge and the chorus, also sound slightly laboured. When the chorus does arrive, the fact that some of the lyrics fail to scan over their backdrop with any real conviction makes for a slightly uncomfortable listen. What’s a real shame is that there are plenty of better candidates on their album for a single release. For all Stornoway’s attempts to be different here, ‘Watching Birds’ isn’t an accurate portrayal of what they can do.