With a sound melding harmony vocals to soaring folk-rock, Newcastle upon Tyne band Lindisfarne released three studio albums - including the 1972 breakthrough Fog on the Tyne, which spent 56 weeks on the U.K. Albums Chart - before splintering.  Two-fifths of the band carried on with new members for a pair of albums in 1973-74, but by '75, the group had called it a day.  Then, in 1978, they were back.  The album was cheekily entitled Back and Fourth, referring to the fact that the originals had only recorded three albums and this was their fourth (even if it was the sixth to bear the Lindisfarne name).  The cover also featured a photograph of the island of Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, for which the band was named.  The reformed group stayed at its new home of Mercury Records for two studio albums and one live set; now, all three of those albums have been collected on the box set Brand New Day: The Mercury Years 1978-1979 from Cherry Red's Lemon Recordings imprint.

The box set opens with a re-jiggered version of the band's 1978 live album Magic in the Air, primarily recorded on December 24, 1977 at Newcastle City Hall.  Chief songwriter Alan Hull (vocals/guitar/keyboards), Ray Jackson (vocals/mandolin/harmonica), Rod Clements (bass/violin/vocals), Simon Cowe (guitar/mandolin/banjo/keyboards/vocals), and Ray Laidlaw (drums) had first reunited a year earlier for a Christmas concert, and it was so successful that they were once again invited to electrify their hometown audience.  This time, the concerts led to a full-fledged reactivation of Lindisfarne.  The bandmates' musical chemistry hadn't deteriorated; in fact, Laidlaw, Clements, and Cowe had played together in Jack the Lad, and Laidlaw had played with Hull on his solo releases.  Magic in the Air displays their tight connection both vocally and instrumentally as they reprised cuts from all three of their original Charisma albums.  However, this presentation of Magic in the Air differs from the original version released on Mercury and reissued in 2012 by Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint.  Some onstage chatter has been eliminated, and at least three songs ("Lady Eleanor," "Meet Me on the Corner," and "Clear White Light") have been sourced from a subsequent, post-Mercury era concert released as Caught in the Act.

CD 2 presents an expanded Back and Fourth.  After courting the likes of George Martin and Glyn Johns, the distinguished Gus Dudgeon (Elton John, David Bowie) was tapped to produce the LP.  Ray Laidlaw recalls in the liner notes that none of the songs were written expressly for the album; instead, they'd been presented to Dudgeon from the bandmates' own backlogs of material.  Dudgeon immediately took a liking to Alan Hull's "Run for Home," correctly identifying it as a hit.  (It reached the top ten in the U.K. and the top 40 in the U.S., while also charting in Australia and Canada.)  Its slick pop-rock sound was removed from the group's rootsier beginnings, but its success was undeniable.  Dudgeon had encouraged a more pop-leaning, almost "American" sound for the quintessentially British band, and they dabbled in genres from country to R&B on the record.  Back and Fourth has been expanded with nine bonus tracks including non-LP B-sides, alternate versions, and even some later-period singles.  (Note that the bonus track "Reunion" is absent; in its place is "Loving Around the Clock" from the same rarities collection on which "Reunion" previously appeared.)

Surprisingly, Gus Dudgeon wasn't tapped to return for The News, Lindisfarne's next album.  Rod Clements recalled in the liner notes that the producer was too expensive, and he was "unconvinced about the band's current songwriting (probably fairly enough)."  When he offered demos from other writers with whom he was associated, the group balked.  They turned instead to Hugh Murphy, best-known for his work with Gerry Rafferty, to co-produce with the band.  Ray Jackson remembered that they were encouraged to use more electronic instruments, such as drum machines and string synths, to give the album a contemporary sheen, but the songwriting wasn't up to the standards of Back and Fourth (as Dudgeon had feared).  Lemon has expanded it with the single version of "Easy and Free" (though the positions of the single and album versions have been inadvertently swapped) and ten previously unreleased, audience-sourced recordings from a live gig at Newcastle City Hall in 1979.

The clamshell case includes a 24-page booklet with an oral history of the recordings from Ray Laidlaw, Rod Clements, and Ray Jackson as well as various photos and memorabilia.  Each disc is housed in a paper sleeve replicating the original front and back cover artwork of the corresponding LP.  Simon Murphy has remastered all audio.  Though it lacks the original Magic in the Air, this set features the most generously expanded editions of Back and Fourth and The News.  It's available now from Cherry Red and Lemon at the links below! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Lindisfarne, Brand New Day: The Mercury Years 1978-1979 (Cherry Red/Lemon CDLEM3BOX251, 2024) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Magic in the Air (originally released as Mercury LP 6641 877, 1978)

1. Lady Eleanor (*)
2. Road to Kingdom Come
3. Turn a Deaf Ear
4. January Song
5. Court in the Act
6. No Time to Lose
7. Winter Song
8. Uncle Sam
9. Wake Up Little Sister
10. All Fall Down
11. Meet Me on the Corner (*)
12. Bye Bye Birdie
13. Train in G Minor
14. Scarecrow Song
15. Dingley Dell
16. Scotch Mist
17. We Can Swing Together
18. Fog on the Tyne
19. Clear White Light (*)

(*) previously included on Caught in the Act, Castle CCSCD 346, 1992

CD 2: Back and Fourth (originally released as Mercury LP 7231 426, 1978)

1. Juke Box Gypsy
2. Warm Feeling
3. Woman
4. Only Alone
5. Run for Home
6. Kings Cross Blues
7. Get Wise
8. You and Me
9. Marshall Riley's Army
10. Angels at Eleven
11. Makes Me Want to Stay
12. Stick Together
13. When It Gets the Hardest
14. Brand New Day
15. Run for Home (Short Version)
16. See How They Run (Hangover Records HANG 9-B, 1981)
17. Juke Box Gypsy (Single Version)
18. Warm Feeling (Mono)
19. Happy or Sad (Demo)
20. Reunion (Demo) (actually Loving Around the Clock, from Buried Treasures Vol. 2, Virgin CDVM 9013, 1992)

CD 3: The News (originally released as Mercury LP 9109 626, 1979)

1. Call of the Wild
2. People Say
3. 1983
4. Log on Your Fire
5. Evening
6. Easy and Free
7. Miracles
8. When Friday Comes Along
9. Dedicated Hound
10. This Has Got to End
11. Good to Be Here?
12. Easy and Free (Single Version)

Live at Newcastle City Hall, 1979 (previously unreleased)

13. Intro
14. Stick Together
15. Juke Box Gypsy
16. People Say
17. Marshall Riley's Army
18. Call of the Wild
19. Evening
20. Warm Feeling
21. Run for Home
22. Dedicated Hound