James yorkston, Nina Persson & the second hand orchestra
Contact :: info@inbloomagency.com
Songs for Nina and Johanna is the beautiful new album from James Yorkston, this time featuring not one but two of Sweden’s most recognisable female vocalists. Recorded in Stockholm with Nina Persson (The Cardigans), Johanna Söderberg (First Aid Kit) and members of The Second Hand Orchestra, these are songs about family, love and parenthood. Tender and heart-breaking yet overwhelmingly life-affirming, Songs for Nina and Johanna is a vital addition to the James Yorkston catalogue.
James Yorkston, the gentleman-songwriter of the East Neuk of Fife, has released a series of albums of tenderness and melody, insight and empathy. His eye for the details in life and the richness of his brogue make a Yorkston song instantly recognisable.
His 2021 collaboration with Karl-Jonas Winqvist – the Swedish music producer, leader and conductor of The Second Hand Orchestra – resulted in the soothing, warm and sublime The Wide, Wide River (a Guardian Top 10 Folk Album of the year).
Nina Persson became an international star in the 1990s fronting Swedish pop/rock sensations The Cardigans, before releasing a series of acclaimed albums under her own name and as A Camp. She’s also collaborated with such artists as composer David Arnold and Manic Street Preachers, and – as Nina Letar Jazz – The Soundtrack Of Our Lives‘ Martin Hederos and Nils Berg.
‘Songs crisp as winter sunlight’ 8/10 Mojo
‘Unearthly beauty from Scottish folk musician/author and Cardigans singer’ ⭑⭑⭑⭑ Uncut
'The Cardigans' Nina Persson joins James Yorkston and The Second Hand Orchestra for the follow-up to 2021's acclaimed The Wide, Wide River. . . It's a match made in heaven . These 12 weary waltzes and bright ballads, written gazing upon the sea from the window of his Cellardyke studio, will find their way into your heart forever.' - ⭑⭑⭑⭑ The Skinny
A beautifully absorbing album...The two voices – one a Scottish folk mainstay, the other a Swedish pop luminary – intertwine to bold, sometimes dramatic effect. A work of real refinement, ‘The Great White Sea Eagle’ is peppered with jewels. - CLASH
“An album significantly greater than the sum of its individual parts”. ⭑⭑⭑⭑ - MUSICOHM
'An excellent album' 4/5 The List
“One of the best folk albums of the past few years – James Yorkston and The Second Hand Orchestra’s 2021 The Wide, Wide River – might just be equalled by The Great White Sea Eagle, which is so much the same and so different that there might just be a new genre on the horizon.” The Irish Times