The concertina maestro draws his repertoire for the album from a wide range of legendary musicians - the spirits and styles of fiddle players Bobby Casey and Neillie Boyle and pipers Tommy Reck and Leo Rowsome can all be heard throughout. Low on ornamentation and high on skill, Larry Kinsella touches the heart with his simplistic beauty in such a way that one would be forgiven for thinking that this album was released in the 1930’s. Larry Kinsella’s debut album is a breath of fresh air from the over the top experimentation with sound that has become a given with so many new traditional music albums. You are in for a treat with this commercially packaged album but bottom line is, the music speaks for itself. Merry Go Round and There is a Time are altogether more civilized, gentle modern ditties of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Seven Curses belongs to that group of outlaw songs from the Irish migration westward across North America: it’s one of the briefer and more sordid stories of its type, with no punches pulled. Gallant Hussar and The Sailor Song are similarly big ballads, ancient and modern, delivered with power and passion. Molly na gCuahc ni Chuilean is a clear highlight, the spine-tingling Gaelic melody beautifully sung. Solas’ endless stream of excellent singers has washed down Máiréad Phelan from the rich ore-bearing seams of Kilkenny. The Lisnagun Jig is a cracker, and The Rossa Reel is nearly as good. Vital Mental Medicine, Solo Double Oh, John Riordan’s Heels there’s plenty of humour in the titles and the melodies. The instrumental genius of Séamus Egan, Mick McAuley and Winnie Horan offers up six tracks of tunes: Shannonesque goodtime music with Eoin Bear’s Reel, the gorgeous bittersweet air My Dream of You and everything in between. It’s fresh, it’s exciting, it’s fun, and it’s still identifiably Irish.
This unassuming bunch of Irish and Irish/American virtuosi has been consistently brilliant since their inception a dozen years ago. I have to say they’ve done it again: another great album from Solas. Want to see earlier releases? Visit the archive.
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