LUNASA
– La Nua (Lunasa Records LRCD 001)
Receiving
the latest Lunasa CD is like unwrapping the best Christmas present you could
wish for. There’s something magical that brings a broad grin to your face and a
warm feeling to the heart. Starting with “The New Day/Ryestraw/An Old Woman
Wouldâ€ð the band know just how to push the right buttons drawing you in firstly
with a stately march followed by a dazzling display of co-joined whistle
acrobatics topped by Cillian Vallely’s uillean pipes and finally Paul Meehan’s
bouzouki and Trevor Hutchinson’s (double bass) driving rhythm. Considering that
there isn’t a vocal in sight this purely instrumental album (as have been all
their previous recordings) is a sheer delight and littered with an Irish pub
session players wealth of material. Harking back to the days of an ill spent
youth in Kilburn and Balisodare Folk Festival witnessing the likes of an early
Bothy Band and Clannad this group more than captures the essence of what I still
hold as some of the most cherished performances of my life. Unlike say The
Dubliners or Furey’s need for speed it is Lunasa’s (at times) gentle but
authoritative deployment of subtle underlying currents that propel the melodies
without overshadowing the lead instruments as in the case of Kevin Crawford’s
flute and Sean Smyth’s fiddle on the track “Doc Holiday’sâ€ð. Here we have a
master-class in understatement that is truly (as Christy Moore would have it)
the iron behind the velvet. www.lunasa.ie
PETE
FYFE