Yvonne Lyon and Boo Hewerdine have long been revered in the music industry for their innate ability to articulate the human experience through song. Their latest collaborative album, “Things Found In Books,” takes inspiration from an unexpected source: the noticeboard of a second-hand bookstore nestled within Scotland’s Culzean Castle—a board that archives the forgotten, the discarded, and the poignant remnants of lives that once were.
The album officially launches on March 28, 2025, both digitally and as a beautifully crafted hardback CD book, with the title track single releasing on March 14, 2025. But what makes this project particularly compelling is where these songs stem from—the ephemeral notes, photographs, and postcards left behind in the pages of old books. Lyon and Hewerdine have dedicated the album to these fragments, weaving them into a rich tapestry of reflective and emotive compositions.
Yvonne Lyon, recognized as one of the UK’s most promising singer-songwriters, and Boo Hewerdine, famed for his songwriting acumen, including a notable Ivor Novello Award nomination, have found gold in the mundane treasures unearthed between library covers. “We are inveterate meaning makers,” Lyon remarks about this project. Her admiration for second-hand bookshops and the tales they unintentionally harbor was the catalyst for this album. The discoveries on Culzean Castle’s noticeboard were more than just forgotten scraps; they were seeds for new narratives.
Hewerdine echoes this sentiment, reflecting on the serendipitous transformation these items undergo—from personal mementos to anonymous public curiosities—and the songwriting journey that revives their essence. While these are not grand, elaborate stories, they capture the fleeting moments of truth and humanity, transformed into melody and prose.
“Things Found In Books” will hold its album launch at the very location where it was born: Culzean Castle’s Secondhand Bookshop, on Sunday, March 30, 2025, from 3 pm to 5 pm. This free event invites attendees to not just listen, but to participate by donating their own books to the bookshop, continuing the cycle of sharing stories.
Following the launch, Lyon and Hewerdine will embark on a UK tour bringing these songs, and the stories they narrate, directly to their audience. Here are the tour dates:
– **Thursday, July 3**: The Engine Room, North Shields
– **Friday, July 4**: The Book Tree, Pickering
– **Sunday, July 6**: Mellor Brook Community Centre, Blackburn
– **Thursday, July 10**: Kibworth Books, Leicestershire
– **Friday, July 11**: Prohibition Recording Studio, Liverpool
– **Saturday, July 12**: The Tin Shed, Flintshire, North Wales
– **Sunday, July 13**: Lichfield Festival, Staffs
– **Friday, July 18**: Thimblemill Library, Smethwick
– **Saturday, July 19**: Live at the Law, North Berwick (TBC)
– **Sunday, July 20**: Milton Keynes International Festival
– **Thursday, July 24**: Chapel Arts Centre, Bath
– **Saturday, July 26**: The Spring Arts Centre, Havant
– **Friday, August 8**: Llangwm Literary Festival, Wales
For those attending, expect not just music, but a shared exploration into the past and an experience that marries imagination with reality. Each venue will become a storytelling lounge, where moments laid between the pages of books come back to life through song.
In “Things Found In Books,” Lyon and Hewerdine have not only resurrected forgotten stories but have also created new ones—to be cherished, remembered, and maybe one day, to inspire once more.
