From Ocean’s Floor is the forthcoming release from Irish composer Linda Buckley, part of NMC Recordings Debut Discs series which supports early-career composers. One of the label’s missions is to seek to inspire and challenge audiences through the release and promotion of recordings, innovative artistic partnerships, commissioning new repertoire, and delivering education work. Ó Íochtar Mara (From Ocean’s Floor) certainly ticks those boxes.
Linda Buckley is an Irish composer who has written extensively for orchestra (BBC Symphony Orchestra, Dresdner Sinfoniker, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra), and has a particular interest in merging her classical training with the worlds of post-punk, folk and ambient electronica. She is ‘one of the leading figures in the thriving Irish new music scene’ (Christopher Fox, Tempo) with her work being described as ‘strange and beautiful’ (Richard Dyer, Boston Globe), and ‘fantastically brutal, reminiscent of the glitch music of acts such as Autechre’ (Liam Cagney, Composing the Island).
In ó íochtar mara (From Ocean’s Floor), the most substantial work on this album, Buckley combines sean nós (an Irish ‘old style’ of elaborately ornamented solo singing) with string quartet and electronic drones. Iarla Ó Lionáird is one of the finest contemporary exponents of sean nós and the song-cycle is based upon Gaelic love poetry of love and loss, some dating back to the seventh century. Listen to an extract below:
From The Ocean’s Floor is available 25 September 2020
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