Austrian label Zelle Records release their second Robert Burns compilation, ‘My Bonie Bell’.

Taking its title from Robert Scott’s Burns song of the same name (also on the album), the 14 track album features 13 New Zealand acts, plus Dunbar-based Roy Moller, known in Scotland as a member of Meth OD and The Wow Kafe, and internationally as a Belle and Sebastian collaborator and co-writer.

The release follows up the first compilation, 2015’s ‘Ae Fond Kiss’ – like its predecessor, this second collection also features songs and poems by Robert Burns reinterpreted by current musicians from Dunedin, NZ.

The line-up includes Dunedin Sound era artists such as Jay Clarkson, Bill Direen, David Mitchell and Robert Scott; as well as Antifolk antihero Darryl Baser, up-and-coming singer- songwriter Lachie Hayes, punk rock survivor Mike Puke, and local talents Tim Bennett – aka Quibbok – and Eden Smith with his band The Tarseals.

Like its predecessor, ‘My Bonie Bell’ was inspired by the local talent contest Robbie Rocks: every year, Toitu Otago Settlers Museum invites artists to sing any Burns song from a short list.

Dunedin, the “Edinburgh of the South”, was founded by Scottish settlers under the spiritual leadership of the Rev Thomas Burns (1796 – 1871), nephew of Robert Burns, and has retained a pronounced Scottish character.

Emma Milburn’s painting that graphic designer Mark Sharma used for the cover depicts Larnach Castle, Dunedin, NZ’s only Scottish-style castle.

More at www.zellerecords.wordpress.com