“Stornoway did not exist. I was creating with no goal or plan and it was exhilarating. I am a playful person and I got completely lost in the adventure of songwriting, not knowing where a song might take me, what feelings I might discover and how they might turn into sound. Every song was an emotional and physical journey I was only partly in control of. 

“Once I got the taste of a song forming, I was completely hooked. I would disappear in it for days, emerging from the shed as high as a kite, with the sea roaring in the distance and no light but the blinking stars.” – Brian Briggs, his shed, a hilltop, The Gower peninsula, Wales, January 2023 

Like the man said: before they soared back with the sky-scraping, heart-filling, life-giving kaleidoscopic wonder that is their fourth album, Dig The Mountain! – a record also peopled by the nightingale whisperer, a former Guillemot, and a Chinese superstar and her guzheng (is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it’s a zither) – Stornoway did not exist. 

This is a standing concert. With support from Annie Dressner.

But after numerous international tours (Europe, Australia, America and back again) and various memorable festival appearances – and, perhaps best of all, an unforgettable show in Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides – by 2015 the bloom was off. It was time to tune back into the natural landscape. 

“When the dust settled, I closed and locked the door on songwriting and Stornoway,” Briggs remembers. “I swapped my guitar for a chainsaw, and got to work managing a wetland for water voles and lapwings.” 

But the band’s roots, while dormant, were never dead. From their goodbye tour onwards, concluding with a long-delayed-by-Covid finale at WOMAD (“a magnificent farewell” – The Spectator), Briggs, keyboard player Jon Ouin and bassist Oli Steadman stayed in touch. They stayed in touch, too, with Oli’s drummer sibling Rob, even though he’d found love on a Stornoway US tour and was now settled in America. The band were nourished by friendship, and by musical and environmental kinship, and by the biomass of fan enthusiasm. 

Meanwhile, in 2020, when the world stopped, something stirred. Ouin credits, firstly, the cleanliness and friendliness of the foursome’s split (“we were just naturally slightly pulling apart at the time”) as “laying the ground” for a regrowth. In lockdown, as the world turned inwards and regrouped, the musicians were doing the same. “We started remembering the reason why we made music together in the first place,” says the keyboard player, “which was always just a simple, instinctive desire to create things.” 

With The Gower devoid of visitors, Briggs, elementally exposed in his makeshift studio in his shed on a coastal hilltop , senses buffeted by the roar of the sea, felt a connection to “that sense of wildness, which I always have always found really inspiring”. For the first time in years, the music was moving in him, stirred by the emptiness and wildness. 

Annie Dressner

Annie Dressner is a singer-songwriter, originally from New York City but now living in Cambridge, UK. Brimming with razor sharp wit, emotional poignancy and glorious melodies, Annie’s straightforward lyrical style, smart wordplay and lilting vocals offer listeners a front row seat to her captivating stories.

Annie has released four studio albums and her music has been played extensively across UK national radio, including recording a live session for Gideon Coe on BBC 6 Music. Last year’s single “For The Thrill Of It” features Kathryn Williams and is a scathing commentary about sexual harassment within the music industry. The track received critical acclaim, including multiple plays by Gideon Coe and Marc Riley on BBC 6Music, with Marc Riley saying: “To these ears, perfect pop music. I adore that.”  It was also included on their ‘Best of 2025’ show. The song was also noted by Ann Powers from NPR Music, who hailed Annie’s showcase for Folk Alliance in Montreal as pick of the night.

Annie has toured extensively in the UK, most recently on a 16-date support slot with acclaimed UK Americana band Danny and the Champions of the World (Loose). She has also played shows with Badly Drawn Boy and Bernard Butler (Suede), and festivals such as Green Man, Secret Garden Party and Cambridge Folk Festival. She was one of the break-out performers at AmericanaFest UK 2025 in Hackney, where she played to a packed room at Oslo. She is due to play Truck Festival this summer and has headline club dates scheduled for November.

Dressner has completed work on her forthcoming 5th studio album, recorded with renowned singer-songwriter Peter Bruntnell at his studio in Kingston. It consists of twelve original songs written by Annie – with two co-writes with Matt Owens of Noah and the Whale and singer-songwriter David Ford. It features Peter Bruntnell and members of his band (Mick Clews & Pete Noone of The Cross) as well as guest musicians such as Eric Heywood (The Pretenders) on pedal steel, Steve Brookes (Danny and the Champions of the World) on drums, Paul Goodwin on keys and Sean Duggan of Steady Habits on backing vocals.

Having started singing from a very young age, Annie used music to process her feelings and thoughts about life. She recorded her first album whilst in NYC but following the sudden tragic death of her mother, she moved to England and had to start from scratch. She spent the first year reading (and emailing everyone in) The Unsigned Guide, and playing any show that she could. With grit and determination she released four further albums, numerous singles and EPs.  With universal themes of love and loss, her next album is a dramatic step up for Annie, whose emotional intelligence and remarkable songwriting skills have been honed to the next level, to reveal a startlingly assured selection of some of the finest indie pop folk songs you are likely to hear this year.

“Dressner is able to paint visceral images and transport the listener to the world of the song. American Songwriter

“Annie is a breath of fresh air. LOVE HER WORK.” – Marc Riley, BBC Radio 6 Music

…This album is low key one of the best pop releases.” Paste Magazine

“Fortunately, she’s an artist worth seeking out.” Apple Music

Band food lovingly cooked by Tamarind Tree