Earlier this year, I reviewed a fine album from Irish band, Notify, with their Airneán, a slice of contemporary music still regularly played here in Lazland.
Hot on the heels of this comes an album from (Tara) Breen, (Pádraig) Rynne, and (Jim) Murray and Odyssey, alongside guest musicians Evan Powell and Brian Morrisey.
What stood out about the Notify album was the fact that it not only contained exceptional musicianship, a fine mix of the traditional in a modern setting, but also every song told a tale. With Odyssey, we once again have storytelling at the heart of a deeply intelligent and loving work. The album has just been released and you can head off to Bandcamp to get a copy https://padraigrynne.bandcamp.com/album/odyssey and I would also recommend a trip to their website at https://www.breenrynnemurray.com/
We have ten songs on this album, and each is a treat.
We open with three jigs in one, Music on the Wind / Upwards to Souris / Báitheadh Bhruclais, the first part learned from the playing of Arty McGlynn and Nollaig Casey, the second a composition of Pádraig’s written in homage to the beautiful town of Souris in Prince Edward Island where they played in 2023, and the third, also known as The Bruckless Drowning, written in memory of the Bruckless Bay drowning in Co. Donegal in 1813 where crews of fishermen were lost in an unexpected storm when their boats capsized. The opening acoustic guitar brings a sense of the dramatic, and it continues to underpin the windy fiddle and concertina. As we segue into the second part, there is a distinct warmth in the music, the chords a delight before the dramatic storm brings a sense of ordered chaos, but an inherent tribute to brave men who still risk their lives daily to bring us food from the sea.
The second trio of songs is Finbarr’s Dwyers, composed by the famous accordion player of the same name, The Mill of Kylemore, a composition by Josie McDermott arranged by Breen, and Pretty Molly, from the late Séan Kean of The Chieftains. The opening reel is imbued with a sense of sadness, the second having a sense of adventure in which I imagine standing overlooking the monastery of Kylemore, and the final part simply delightfully playful.
This is followed by The Room Is In Darkness / The Measures Money Can’t Buy, the first written by Scottish artist, Aidan O’Rourke, a BBC Radio 2 folk award winner, with the second written for family and friends by Mike McGoldrick. I have embedded precisely five minutes of beautiful music below. Breen’s fiddle on the opener is gorgeous and brings me in mind of lonely nights in times past when sleep doesn’t come, and the room is shrouded in gloom, bringing on thoughts of our place in the grand scheme of life. The contrast for the second part couldn’t be more real, a loving homage to those close to us and full of warmth, a proper head and toe-tapper.
We move next to Palmira, a Celtic folk delight, written by Fernando Largo who was the patron of folk collective Llan de Cubel from Asturias, a principality in Northern Spain. This song reflects a revival in the traditional music from that part of the world, and is sumptuous in its execution and production, the trio providing for a collective few minute to sit and reflect on the world around us. It is also embedded below, one of my favourite pieces of music this year.
Mount levers is composed by Rynne and is dedicated to a restored 18th century country house in Co. Clare where the band held a photoshoot a couple of years ago. Murray provides for some class guitar work in the introduction, and the piece projects a nice landscape of a grand residence, a home full of adventures both passed and to come.
Next up, another trio, McKenna Country / Ferny Hill / Grist For The Mill, the final part a composition by the well-known and regarded Michael McCague, the link between them being, I believe, County Monaghan in Ulster. There is some very detailed music in this set of songs and some of it is exactingly emotional. I have embedded it below, a fine example of how this trio can set places and situations to music without the need for words to describe them.
We follow this with something completely different, certainly in where the song Vals til more og far was sourced from, this being Danish composer Rune Borsland. This waltz will feature in my shortlist of “track of 2024”. The guitar work is incredible, providing us with a pastoral delight, the concertina crying a lament, this followed by a mournful fiddle, simply something to be deeply cherished. You can listen to this embedded below. Pour yourself a malt, turn the lights out, and allow it to wash over you. Incredibly moving.
The next trio is Sirius Reel / The Garavouge / Pedalling Patterns, the final part very sad as its composer, Charile Lennon, passed away just before this work was released. The first part is bright, the second taking a slightly more intense turn, the final part containing patterns wrought large.
The penultimate piece is Begley’s (Murray having toured the world with Séamus Begley for twenty-five years and this was one of the tunes they regularly performed together), Cuz Teahan’s, learned from the playing of the great Limerick accordion player Dónal Murphy, and Malbay Slide, composed by Rynne at Malbay Studios where the album was recorded. The first part is a bright reel, the second takes on a more individualistic hue, and as we approach the final minute, the trio combine to provide for a fulsome wall of sound, the bass guitar especially noticeable with a lovely melody.
We close with High 5’s, a celebration by Murray of the 5/8-time signature. It is embedded below. The keys set the tone, and this is a piece which should delight all you musicians out there, including those of a progressive disposition, because there is complexity in this.
Odyssey - what a wonderful album, a work which takes a lot from friends and influencers, but in a unique setting, an album to be cherished in a time of some shocking uncertainty in the world, a reminder that traditional need not, and here does not, mean inward and hostile, but open, loving, and inviting us to bask in its warmth. Highly recommended.