The Boy Who Trapped The Sun - Fireplace

(Geffen)

Fireplace is the debut album from Lewis-born Colin MacLeod, aka The Boy Who Trapped The Sun. Inspired by an obligatory dose of lost love, as well as his homeland, the album marks an incredible transition for MacLeod after years of teeth-cutting and open-mic nights in Stornoway.

Blissfully drifting from knee-slapping folk and laidback, countrified blues, to stirring and reflective balladry, these songs — tracks such as ‘Telescope’ and ‘Home’ for example — offer moments of real beauty along the way, despite a prevailing ‘radio-friendly’ sheen. When stripped back to the core though, this is entrancing stuff.