It all started innocently enough on 12th March 2022, with #298 of JC's epic Saturday's Scottish Song series (still going strong, with #495 dropping yesterday).
Sister John were that week's featured artist and JC was spot on when he wrote that,
"I’m guessing that, for the vast majority of you, this will be your introduction to Sister John. I thought that it would therefore be worthwhile to post one song from each of the three albums, and should you find yourself enjoying and liking what you hear, then perhaps you might be tempted to place an order with LNFG for some vinyl."
I did like what I heard but wasn't sufficiently moved to go to LNFG, aka Last Night From Glasgow, to place an order. After all, I hadn't bought any vinyl for years!
That all changed before the year was out, when JC enthused about the imminent debut album from HiFi Sean & David McAlmont, which was available to LNFG subscribers in 2022, ahead of a general release in 2023.
Suitably motivated, I took out an annual subscription, and got the album - Happy Endings - and was introduced to a load of other artists that I'd either not heard of at all, or not for a very, very long time.
One of the perks of LNFG membership is access to their digital vault of pretty much everything the label has released since day 1. And it was in the vault that I rediscovered Sister John, namely the three albums mentioned in JC's post, plus singles and one-offs.
2025 saw the release of fourth album, Don't Worry, It's Forever, the first that I've received in glorious vinyl and it maintains the high standard of the previous releases.
Sister John is a four-piece, comprising multi-talented multi-instrumentalists Heather Phillips, Jonathan Lilley and Sophie Pragnell and, at the core, Amanda McKeown.
Amanda also writes all of the songs, which manage the balance between achingly sparse and deeply moving. JC reflected on "particularly enjoying [the music] when I’ve needed to, or wanted to, slow things right down."
He's absolutely right. Sister John's albums would fit comfortably in a playlist including Nick Drake, late period Talk Talk, or Portishead, yet sounds like none of these. And chances are, Sister John may have passed me by altogether, were it not for the recommendation from the blogging community, which would have been a tragedy.
Today's Sister John selection has been sitting on my hard drive and on my phone for well over a month. It was a last minute decision to go ahead with posting it today and it was only when referring back to The Vinyl Villain that I realised that it's pretty much 4 years to the day since that fateful Saturday's Scottish Song post. Sometimes, these things are just meant to be.
So, this is me paying forward. As with JC's original post, I've sampled three songs, one from each of the four albums, plus a 2016 single that also ended up on their debut. More by accident than design, the first half focuses on Sister John's earlier recordings, the second half their output in the 2020s.
I had half a thought to match the compilation title by bringing the selection in 45 minutes. Sensibly, I went with a sequence that seemed to flow and play well as an album in it's own right, so the running time went a bit over, but no regrets.
The closing song here is also the closing song on the current album and is as good a sentiment as any, in a world where it's easy to become paralysed by fear and self-doubt. I should take Amanda's advice myself.
1) Gone (2017)
2) Silver Whistle (2019)
3) He Came Down (Single Version) (2016)
4) Lost And Won (2019)
5) Backstreet Swimmers (2017)
6) The Other Side Of Love (2019)
7) Strange Ideas (2021)
8) Thinner Air (2017)
9) Grief (2025)
10) The Bud (2021)
11) Me And Nevine (2025)
12) How Can I Keep It Alive? (2021)
13) Just Do It Anyway (2025)
2016: He Came Down EP: 3
2017: Returned From Sea: 1, 5, 8
2019: Sister John: 2, 4, 6
2021: I Am By Day: 7, 10, 12
2025: Don't Worry, It's Forever: 9, 11, 13
Take The World At 45 (46:43) (GD) (M)
