Published on Oct 25, 2001
Celtic music can be boring as cold Cream-Of-Wheat. It’s a great
musical form when it’s done right, but sacrifice its spark and it
becomes dull, dull, dull. Thankfully, Lunasa doesn’t have this
problem; in fact, they’re one of the best things to happen to
traditional Irish music in years – and their latest CD,
The Merry Sisters Of Fate, is no exception.
Lunasa is kind of an Irish music ‘dream team’. Bassist Trevor
Hutchinson, a central part of the band’s sound, was a member of the
Waterboys. Fiddler Sean Smyth is a past All-Ireland fiddling
champion. Kevin Crawford is acclaimed by many as the greatest
living player of traditional Irish flute and pipes. Add in the
guitar work of Donogh Hennessy, formerly of the Sharon Shannon Band
(more on him later), and the pipework of Cillian Vallely, and
Lunasa is a solid piece of work.
The thing that struck me immediately about
Merry Sisters is the string work. No, not the fiddle, though
the fiddle is excellent; the guitars and the bass. Trevor
Hutchinson’s bass playing is the heartbeat of this CD; it echoes
vibrantly throughout, a rich and constant undercurrent that adds
richness to what can be a thin-sounding genre. Hennessy’s acoustic
guitar work adds an additional dimension, smoothing and enriching
the sound further.
It is rare, in my experience, to have a traditional Celtic band
sound this deep. Lunasa delivers on
Merry Sisters, aided by crystal-clear production from Ed
Kenehan and David Odlum. This CD sounds good from the gate, and
just gets better. Special tracks of note include the opening track,
the rich and haunting “Aoibhneas”; the part-original composition
“Donogh and Mike’s”, with one of the best acoustic guitar intros
I’ve ever heard in traditional Irish music; the wistful “Inion Ni
Scannlain” and “Casu”; and the complex interweaving melody lines of
“Scully’s”.
There are a couple of points where Lunasa’s sound thins out
enough to be a bit hollow, specifically on “The Minor Bee” and “The
Merry Sisters Of Fate”, but overall they maintain their dynamic
sound and prove that they are the team to beat when it comes to
traditional Irish music. No less a personage than Matt Molloy –
former flutist of Irish music greats The Bothy Band and current
flutist for the Chieftains – has been wowed by the talent and the
passion in Lunasa. Fans of Irish music should waste no time in
joining him.