In 2005, following Warnings / Promises, Idlewild finally decided that they were a rock band all along and that the folk edges that had been working their way in since The Remote Part were just a side track to their rock band credentials. The result of this epiphany was that there was room for Idlewild to do both a rock record and a folk record. Rather than fall into the excess of a rock 'n' roll double album, Idlewild decided to remain purely a rock band and that the folk album would be released, separately, under Roddy Woomble's moniker. Co-written with Idlewild cohort Rod Jones, as well as folk legend John McCusker, My Secret is My Silence is the first installment of the resulting duo - a folk album that isn't strictly a folk album and a solo album that isn't strictly a solo album.
Opening quietly with "I Came in from the Mountain", the eclectic first half of My Secret is My Silence is already defined as it moves into the surprisingly abrasive, uillean pipes driven "As Still as I Watch Your Face." "Every Line Of A Long Moment," augmented by a wurlitzer and some violins, is about as close to pure folk that My Secret is My Silence gets. But it always feels like something a little more. "From the Drifter to the Drake" drifts about as far away from folk as anything else on display. Opening with some chants, it quickly becomes an upbeat indie song, with some cittern deep in the chorus that just about keeps touch with its acoustic nature that flows through to the end. Passing dreamily and leisurely at its own pace through "If I Could Name Any Name" (featuring vocals from Karine Polwart), John McCusker's instrumental, "Whiskeyface" and a trio of acoustic numbers, the eclectic first half is equaled by the alt-folk of the second.
The overall feel of My Secret is My Silence is a step back towards The Remote Part than a step on from Warnings / Promises. Not that it is a bad thing. Released as a folk album, on a folk label and played by folk musicians, My Secret is My Silence isn't purely a folk album. In fact, there are only two pure folk songs on display. Beefed up with drums and flashes of electric guitars, there are feelings of rock and a few indie melodies thrown around. Carrying all the sounds of Idlewild, as well as the many friends who helped piece the album together, My Secret is My Silence is a refreshing step away from the rock-song-folk-song format that has become an Idlewild staple since The Remote Part.
