Broken Chanter is the adopted name of David MacGregor, who spent over a decade as the principal songwriter of Scottish Alt-Pop darlings Kid Canaveral. Following the completion of touring for Kid Canaveral’s third record in late 2017, MacGregor took time to collect his thoughts, and some song fragments, and flesh them out into skeletal demos recorded in Ardnamurchan, Skye, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Ireland.
MacGregor spent February - May 2018 recording in Gort na Luchóg, Co. Donegal, nestled on a remote peninsula protruding into the Atlantic, and in Glenwood Studios in Glasgow. The result is the stunning eponymous debut album Broken Chanter showcasing the best songwriting of his career, helped to life by some of Scotland's finest musicians. A light-hearted raconteur and heavy-hearted singer when accompanied by just a guitar, and a whirling dervish of noise and melody when fully electric, MacGregor returns to Celtic Connections for a full-band show, following last year’s sell-out.
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A stunning, stately debut - The Skinny
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Poignant electro-futurist folk [where] one of the elements which resonates most clearly throughout...is MacGregor’s continuing ability with a shining pop chorus. - The Scotsman
Pairing catchy choruses and post-pop grooves, with melancholic, self-deprecating lyrics about ageing and resilience, MacGregor offers up a tasty slice of Scottish indie avant-pop, shot through with streams of folk and electronica - The List
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As with all the songs here, MacGregor cuts to the heart with the tiniest lyrical details. Like slow strobe flashes throwing light on the past, we see snatches of stories symbolised in ordinary objects and overheard conversations, leaving us to fill in the missing pieces - Gold Flake Paint
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From insistent lead single 'Wholesale', through a heavenly collaboration with Gaelic star Kim Carnie, to closing secular hymnal 'Free Psalm', the record glides and soars - a bird's eye view of frosted landscapes and snowy hills - The National
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Record of Note (w/b 3 Sept 2019) – Roddy Hart Show, BBC Radio Scotland
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Top 25 Artists to Watch in 2019 – Vic Galloway, BBC Radio Scotland
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Album of the Week (w/b 3 Sept 2019) – Rapal, BBC Radio nan Gàidheal