The Scotsman Sessions #128: Cloth

Welcome to The Scotsman Sessions. With performing arts activity curtailed for the foreseeable future, we are commissioning a series of short video performances from artists all around the country and releasing them on scotsman.com, with introductions from our critics. Here, from their home in South Lanarkshire, twins Rachael and Paul Swinton of Scottish Album of the Year-shortlisted band Cloth perform a stripped-back version of their song, Old Bear

This year’s Scottish Album of the Year shortlist is notable for featuring eight debut outings in its list of ten contenders, including albums by electro duos The Ninth Wave and Comfort, indie rockers Declan Welsh & the Decadent West, DJ/producer Nova – and mellow alt.pop trio Cloth, whose assured self-titled debut has been attracting admiring glances, not least from broadcasters such as Lauren Laverne and Vic Galloway, since its release last November on prolific not-for-profit label Last Night from Glasgow.

For their Scotsman Session, twins Rachael and Paul Swinton, who front the band alongside drummer Clare Gallacher, have chosen to perform Old Bear. This former single featured on the soundtrack to the hit TV adaptation Normal People alongside the likes of Nick Drake, Elliot Smith and Frank Ocean, and the Swinton siblings have filmed a beatific version at their home in