Roseanne Reid - St Margaret's

Roseanne Reid's world has changed in some dramatic ways since she released her hugely acclaimed first album Trails, and not just because of what she calls the weird dream of the lockdown years. But those changes have only helped to inform its delightful follow-up, as the widely admired Scottish singer-songwriter invites us to Lawside.

Last summer, Roseanne and her wife became the proud parents of a baby boy, who has, of course, reshaped their lives in the most joyful (and exhausting) ways. Much of the new record was written before he came along, but the maturity and confidence in her song craft and delivery is there for all to hear, from the infectious, horn-laden opening single Call It Love to beautiful and tender pieces such as All I Need, Shine On and Made Just For You.

The album is named after a residential district of Dundee, where the family lives. There was tangible change in the way she created the record. Whereas Trails was made in Brooklyn with producer Teddy Thompson in a lightning five-day burst, Lawside was closer to home in every sense. It was recorded in Perth, just south of Dundee, with producer, musician and fellow Scot David Macfarlane, and in a way that very much suited Reid's new life.

Born in Leith and raised in Edinburgh, Roseanne grew up in music, the eldest daughter of the Proclaimers' Craig Reid, and was taking her own first artistic steps by the age of 12, when she learned guitar, moving on to early performances at local folk clubs and open mic nights.
She took inspiration variously from Bob Dylan, Martha Wainwright and Peter, Paul and Mary, pursuing a folk path that led her, in 2014, to New York's Catskill Mountains, and Camp Copperhead, the songwriting workshop run by another of her guiding lights, Steve Earle. On open mic night, she overcame her nervousness to perform her song Amy in front of him, and all the aspiring writers present.