The Rails

The London-based folk-rock duo the Rails is made up of married partners Kami Thompson and James Walbourne. Although early attention greeted the pair thanks to their family ties—Thompson is the daughter of Richard & Linda Thompson and Walbourne previously served in both the Pogues and Pretenders—the songwriting depth and artistic rapport on their 2014 debut Fair Warning quickly proved their independent strengths. Later projects saw the band move beyond its initial folk and Americana foundations toward power pop on the more rock-focused 2019 album Cancel the Sun.

Ahead of the Rails, Thompson had already recorded with Bonnie "Prince" Billy, her brother Teddy Thompson, and Sean Lennon while also belonging to Dead Flamingoes. Walbourne’s résumé likewise featured engagements with the Pretenders, the Pogues, Son Volt, Ray Davies, and the Pernice Brothers, as well as his time alongside Thompson in Dead Flamingoes.

Issued in 2014, the Rails’ first album Fair Warning was co-produced by Edwyn Collins and included fiddle contributions from Eliza Carthy; its anticipation led Island Records to reactivate the historic pink label expressly for the release. Although the record centered on original songs in the classic U.K. folk-rock tradition, it also contained a selection of traditional folk material. The follow-up, Other People, was tracked in Nashville under Ray Kennedy—whose prior clients include Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams—and appeared in September 2017. Their third set, Cancel the Sun, arrived in 2019 and adopted a more electric palette that mixed alt-rock, power pop, country, and baroque pop.