‘The Long Haul’, the new album by The Wynntown Marshals, was recorded in three short months in the band’s Edinburgh loft space. Recorded and mixed on a Tascam portastudio by Andrew Taylor, a good friend of the band, the album sees the band stretch out a little from the purer Americana sound of ‘Westerner’.

Organ and piano are more prominent this time round and there are pop hooks aplenty, sitting comfortably alongside more guitar-heavy tracks and subtler, more intimate moments.

On two tracks, simple strings are employed to beautiful effect and there is also a sparkling cameo from Diane Christiansen of Chicago-based outfit Dolly Varden on the album closer ‘Change of Heart’.

The trademarks of the Marshals’ sound – honest and heartfelt lead vocals, the driving guitars, chiming Rickenbacker 12-string, and sweet pedal steel – are still present.

The story songs of old are also in attendance; ‘Curtain Call’ is a stripped-down hymn to a ruined Victorian illusionist, while the country-shuffle/sea- shanty of ‘The Submariner’ tells the tale of a modern-day Captain Nemo.

However, line-up changes have brought a new dynamic and a more collaborative approach to songwriting and arrangements, while adding new flavours to the sound too. Listen closely and you’ll hear multi-layered backing vocals, mellotron, banjos and mandolins, echoes of 60s beat-pop, and simpler, more contemporary guitar lines.

Highlights include the hook-laden, radio-friendly ‘Canada’ and the country-rock groove of ‘Low Country Comedown’ - a track inspired by the band’s regular trips to the continent. ‘Whatever It Takes’ shows the band’s more sensitive side, ‘The Submariner’ rolls up-country then dives deep into the ocean.

‘Tide’ is a windblown, Crazy Horse-esque workout, and the aforementioned ‘Change of Heart’ brings the album to a close in epic style (think Neil Young or Tom Petty jamming with a string quartet).

‘The Long Haul’ speaks of so much more than the path the band have travelled to get to this point. It’s a treatise on journeys past, present and future, an ode to relationships, friendships and family and, ultimately, it’s a soundtrack to our endless search for identity and the road home.