Julie Fowlis / Éamon Doorley / Zoë Conway / John Mc Intyre – Allt
Machair Records – Out Now
You put one of the most outstanding singers of her generation in a room, along with one of the most gifted fiddle players of her generation. Throw in one of the most talented bouzouki players of his generation, playing alongside one of the most noted trad guitarists of his generation and place at the helm a producer who’s legendary reputation holds over several generations. Sure, what could possibly go wrong?
Eh, nothing… absolutely nothing.
A concept conceived by its two leading ladies, Julie Fowlis and Zoë Conway, Allt was recorded in Ireland and Scotland with the support of Louth Co. Council and Iomairt Colmcille. With longtime collaborators Éamon Doorley and John Mc Intyre, they became four. The way this quartet weaves the music of these two traditions really highlights its historically shared bonds.
Firstly I want to give huge credit to Calum Malcolm whose job it was to capture this performance. Getting him on board was certainly a good call. A renowned producer for a good few years now, he had the courage and vision to record this group live and in the round. I say vision, as he knew these players were going to bounce off of each other in the best possible way, playing together in the same room. I say courage because the thought of making a record in this way would scare off an awful lot of today’s sound engineers. And I really don’t think that I have heard a record in quite a while that shares both the energy of a live performance whilst maintaining the intimacy, isolation and warmth for each character involved. The microphone setup in the room itself would be worthy of a ‘Masterclass’ discussion. Although I’m sure that Malcolm’s retort to the above would be something like a humble ‘well when you’ve talent like that in the room, it’s hard to go wrong…’.
And what talent there is.
But absolutely not what I expected. Honestly hearing the names involved in this collaboration, I thought I had the whole thing figured out. You combine four the leaders of their individual crafts and Bob’s your Uncle, you’ve got a folk supergroup. Julie heading it up on vocals, Zoë handling fiery fiddling riffage between lines, and the two lads at the back pumping out the rhythm.
I couldn’t have gotten it more wrong, and it makes me so happy. This is a collaboration in its truest sense.
This group could not be better matched. My naïvety is once again checked as I had no idea that Zoë Conway’s singing could match Julie note for note. But then again, did I realise that Julie’s whistle playing was at a par with Zoë’s fiddle, and Éamon’s at that!? Or that Éamon and John would equally assert their own vocal authority and that when the four sing together, the harmonies would be truly gorgeous. Fine examples of this are track Na Hù Bhithinn/Hò Rò Na Priobaidean and closer An tEarrach Thiar.
Although for me the outstanding song on the album is Faoiseamh A Gheobhadsa, a delicate duet between Fowlis and Conway. Something happens to the body when listening to this song. Pulse rate drops, weight is lifted from the shoulder area. It should be available on prescription.
I’m not going to jump into this album too much at this point. The effect of its musicality is instant, but there is another depth in its lyrics that I would rather unravel gradually over many listens. Although available digitally, if your Gaelic, Scots or Irish is as rusty mine, you may find the CD booklet a useful tool in translating the beautiful prose uncovered from many’s an age by Allt.
Allt could well become a modern classic, and will undoubtedly lead to further collaboration between these four artists. And hopefully so. Here we see a group of people at the top of their game showing what is capable when you go the opposite direction of most of today’s music. There are no frills, no smoke and mirrors that makes it so engaging. I can’t wait to hear what comes next.
That these four people, all very highly regarded in their own right, could gel so well musically, and allow each other the space to explore new ground. I believe it says an awful lot for the selfless ethos in both traditional music, and the musicians themselves.
Order Allt digitally via http://smarturl.it/Allt
or on CD via Julie’s website here https://www.juliefowlis.com/product/allt-cd/