Ranagri – Playing for Luck
Stockfisch Records – 11 January 2019
Coming across Ranagri at Gate to Southwell Festival in 2015, I met four seriously experienced musicians, seemingly bursting with ideas, in a band yet to release a debut album. Their sets that weekend mixed traditional songs and tunes, both Irish and American, with their own compositions. In conversation, they clearly saw the self-penned material as their future but I sensed a reluctance to completely leave behind the relative security of traditional material. And so, it was no surprise when the debut album, Fort of the Hare, was released, it was composed entirely of their own songs and tunes, and was quickly followed by Tradition, their arrangements of twelve traditional Irish and American songs. But there’s no such hedging of bets with their latest album, Playing for Luck. Twelve expertly crafted original songs, the lyrics for eleven of which, yet again, demonstrate Dónal Rogers’ deftness of touch. The 12th song, Sometimes Home, sees bodhrán and percussion maestro Joe Danks contributing the words. The CD comes with a 28-page booklet, reading the lyrics is almost as enjoyable as listening to them.
This is Joe’s first album with Ranagri, he took over bodhrán duties from Tad Sargent in 2016, and this last year has seen another line-up change with original harpist Jean Kelly leaving and Eleanor (Ellie) Turner taking her place. This must have been a tricky slot to fill, harpists are not exactly two a penny, especially ones willing and able to bring in both electric harp and clarsach and, to complete the match with Jean, a background in classical music. Ellie fits this bill perfectly and her presence ensures the interplay between harp and Eliza Marshall’s flutes remains a cornerstone of the Ranagri sound. As a bonus, she’s added piano to the band’s instrumental mix.
Playing for Luck opens with The Strangler, the first of several songs that explore tensions in relationships. In The Strangler, it’s jealously, in other songs, loneliness or betrayal. On this album at least, Dónal shows a talent for making poetry from the pains and self-doubt that can accompany love, but this isn’t the album’s only preoccupation. The Medication Show takes several well-aimed blows at those who see the cure for the ills of today in a return to a once supposedly great past, without even mentioning the “B” word. Colder gives a voice to our cities’ rough sleepers, five stanzas gently putting across the sense of privation, hunger and hopelessness. Hopelessness of a rather different sort, perhaps better described as fatalism, arises in Waiting for the Rain, it could be in Africa or any place where drought is pushing humanity to the edge. The final track of the album, Liberty, at first sight, sets out to raise the spirits with its refrain, “And I’ll raise you a cup of liberty, to the people, the land be true”. But there’s an underlying theme of emigration and displacement that ensures the album’s Playing for Luck motif runs through to the end, you must play your cards in life but you can’t always expect to win.
After all this fascination with the lyrics it’s time to highlight the power and polish provided by the instrumentation and vocal arrangements. Dónal always takes lead vocal with his clear voice and mostly gentle delivery, a voice that stays calm even when delivering the acerbic lyrics of The Medication Show. There’s superb support from the other three on backing vocals with harmonies that threaten to turn some choruses into choral pieces.
I’ve deliberately saved the best ‘til last. At the heart of Ranagri’s sound are the melodies, counter-melodies and harmonies that come from Eliza’s extensive armoury of flutes and whistles, sometimes solo, but frequently combining in the rôle with Ellie’s harp. I always hesitate to use the word “unique” but this element of their arrangements comes pretty damn close. Out There marks a dramatic change to this pattern, Ellie lays down pounding chords on piano to underlie Dónal’s voice and Eliza’s flute. The result is a sit up and take notice track that wouldn’t be out of place on a space sci-fi movie soundtrack. Throughout the album, alongside the melodic fireworks, sit fascinating rhythms, sometimes simple, sometimes intricate. Most often deriving from Joe’s bodhrán, he also uses a full drum kit, and, on The Medication Show, a single snare drum takes centre stage. Dónal’s guitar is pretty much ever present, both as a rhythm instrument and picked. Joe also adds guitar, both six-string and tenor to some tracks. This range of instrumentation gives a depth and a variety to Ranagri’s sound, ranging from quiet passages, maybe with just voice and harp, to rousing sections of four voices, full drum kit and Eliza’s flutes swooping and diving around a melody line. It all makes for enthralling listening.
With Playing for Luck, Ranagri have reached a sweet patch, four musicians showing a cohesion and confidence that seems to have imbued them with a sense of adventure. You should join them on that adventure, the music it’s generating can be both joyous and thoughtful, with a depth that repays careful listening in spades.
For dates and more details visit: http://www.ranagri.com/