Ciaran O’Kane – Round and Round
Self Released – Out Now
Round and Round is the highly impressive debut album from County Antrim singer/songwriter Ciaran O’Kane. Growing up in Cushendun in the Glens of Antrim with a musical family, Ciaran has been singing from an early age. This CD unleashes his full potential with a fine mixture of self-penned and traditional songs and tunes. He was helped by Sean Og Graham, Gary Graham and Michael Sands (guitars), Eammon Graham (percussion), Trevor Hutchinson (bass), Seamus O’Kane (bodhran) and Helen O’Kane (vocals) and they have produced an excellent CD.
The album opens with the traditional song Banks of the Lee and it is a quite superb opening track. A synth-like bass drone note lies menacingly beneath the exquisite vocals, the combination is breathtakingly good.
The self-penned Belfast Lass is a jolly wee song about an encounter with a young lady in that fair town. It bowls along at a steady pace as the story unfolds. This is followed by another O’Kane composition, Skim, a lyrically poignant laid-back number with some beautiful guitar backing that talks of life and loneliness and how we should be enjoying the moment rather than waiting for better times to come.
O’Kane’s song writing is really top-notch and this continues on I Won’t Give Up, an upbeat song about leaving troubles behind and not letting the madness get to you. The whistled breaks in the song lift the mood even higher and fit perfectly with this joyful ditty.
The album also has a couple of great instrumental tracks starting with The Ranaghan Reels. The musicianship is excellent and the guitar and bodhran backing are the perfect foil for the accordion lead. The O’Num Polkas again shows some fine accordion work with some strong guitar backing and jogs along nicely.
O’Kane is joined by his mother Helen on the a cappella version of the old song Lord Franklin, telling the story of Sir John Franklin who was lost in 1845 during an expedition to find the Northwest Passage. The result is a superb piece of music with Ciaran taking the harmony as Helen carries the melody. It works beautifully and is a fine performance.
The album continues with more excellent O’Kane penned songs starting with Spark, with its tale of a relationship that doesn’t work no matter how much you wish it would because you can’t find that elusive spark. Round and Round, included here in a full band version and as a bodhran and vocal only version, is an enjoyable song of realisation that life can be predictable and repetitive. As with all these songs, the vocal is perfect and the unobtrusive musical backing is subtle and well played.
The Moorcock’s Crow is a straightforward take on this traditional classic with O’Kane’s Irish folk vocal at its finest while Willie Taylor is another traditional favourite performed with relish and skill. There is also an excellent rendition of Ger Wolfe’s fine song The Curragh Road.
Done sees the return of the atmospheric bass drone note under another masterful vocal. It has the feel of an ancient bagpipe lament and has a powerful lyric full of regret and sorrow at the loss of a love. “My love for you now lies cold and blue: Where once it roared and thundered.”
Snow is another lovely piece about love and its progression, accentuated by polished guitar and accordion work that carries the heartfelt vocal. The Fulldiew Stones is an absolute cracker of a song which tells a tale of a young sailor lad and his failed attempt to return home to his lover and her tragic end as his remains are repatriated. It is a heart-achingly beautiful song with some more lovely accordion and guitar. The unaccompanied last line is the perfect finish for one of the best new Irish songs I have heard in a long time.
The fact that these three songs sound like long-established traditional numbers but are actually O’Kane compositions show just how accomplished his song writing is. He has an undoubted talent for pitching a song just right to give it that trad vibe and his vocal performance is outstanding. The grace notes are beautiful and the vocal is Irish traditional singing at its finest.
There have been some fine Irish trad albums recently. Lankum’s Between the Earth and Sky and Lisa O’Neill’s Heard a Long Gone Song probably top the bill. Ciaran O’Kane’s Round and Round definitely deserves to take its place on this list. It is a hugely impressive piece of work and a fine debut.
Order Round and Round via Ciaran’s Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/Ciaranokanemusic/
You can hear two tracks from Round on Round on the Folk Show: Episode 45 here which reached No 1 in the Mixcloud Folk Chart.