Gross National Happiness is the fourth album from Edinburgh-based 9-piece Orkestra del Sol. Having announced in April that 2017 will be their final year, the band is now setting about making it a year to remember – one great big celebration of Orkestra del Sol, their music, their achievements, and their unique brand of bombastic brass (self styled as “the swagger of a Balkan wedding band – the riotous energy of Latin carnival”)

The new album contains 14 original tracks written over a four-year period and composed by a broad selection of band members. It features a range of styles and influences – all given the full Orkestra del Sol treatment and brought together under the musical direction of Marcus Britton (sousaphone).

“Since beginning to write our own material about 10 years ago, we’ve always worked in this way” says Marcus, “individual writers bring something to the group and then it’s worked into an Orkestra track through a combination of playing all together, people adding harmonies or extra sections or maybe a couple of people taking it away again to refine. It’s a great way to work, because the 9-person filter means that although we all come from very different musical backgrounds and disciplines, we always end up with a strong sound that is unmistakably our own.”

Orkestra del Sol started life as a somewhat anarchic street band – playing covers of rambunctious outfits from across the globe such as Taraf de Haidouks, Kocani Orkestar, Tom Ze and Youngblood Brass Band. And from these roots they have grown into an international touring act, writing their own material and thriving on the buzz of creating an exciting audience experience. The band has a 14-year history of playing high-energy, theatrical live shows everywhere form street theatre festivals to village halls, clubs or music festival main stages. And driving all of this is an unwavering passion for global brass band music – the sounds of hot dusty streets, of carnival, Mardi Gras, weddings and outdoor celebrations.

Capturing all of this in the studio is not easy, and required a production team that each brought a different set of skills to the project. Graeme Young at Chamber Studio was crucial to the process, recording the instruments meticulously and as true to their natural sound as possible. Marcus Britton co-produced the band’s 2011 album Lung Capacity with Joe Acheson (of Hidden Orchestra), and was able to draw on this experience when working with Ben Seal, whose production skills have given the album the clarity and depth of sound that the band had in mind. Gross National Happiness is Orkestra del Sol’s final album – one they hope will stand the test of time long after they have stopped gigging.

Orkestra del Sol has toured all over the UK, playing big stage slots at festivals including Glastonbury (Avalon Stage), Cambridge Folk Festival, Shambala, Bestival, Towersey Folk Festival, Secret Garden Party, Solfest, Kelburn and Belladrum. They have taken street shows to all the UK’s major street theatre festivals (Winchester Hat Fair, London Thames Festival, Greenwich & Docklands Festival, Stockton International Riverside Festival and more), and have played critically-acclaimed seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe and Sydney Festival. In 2007 they went to India to collaborate with Rajasthani wedding band Jaipur Kawa Brass Band. In 2008 they took a street show to Chaoyang Spring Carnival in Beijing and later that year they drove to Exit Festival in Serbia, stopping to play in half a dozen countries on the way. They have played live sessions on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC 6 Music’s Cerys Matthews show. An Autumn Farewell Tour will be announced soon…

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