Read our Album Review of Fire Draw Near here.
River Lea (a division of Rough Trade) announces Fire Draw Near – an album of Irish traditional songs and music from the archives, compiled by Ian Lynch of Dublin band Lankum which will be released on October 8th, 2021.
“This LP is a collection of 13 rare, strange and wonderful gems from the Irish tradition. Recorded in various parts of the country over a period of over 60 years between 1947 and 2013. They show us a strong, multi-faceted and vibrant musical tradition in the country; one that still exists in the present day. The settings are varied – bars, living rooms, campsites, recording studios – as are the backgrounds of those who perform. The music of the Travellers, who tended to the flame of tradition while the rest of society began to lose interest is well-represented, as are styles ranging from sean-nós singing in Connemara, Donegal fiddle-playing, uilleann piping from Dublin and English language singing of ballads both bawdy and beautiful from across Ireland.
“Although I’ve written and spoken academically about traditional songs a lot over the years, I’ve never had to do it on emotional terms; to say what they mean to me on a personal level. And it requires describing the indescribable. I think that it’s something about family and community; it’s something about the embodiment of a different state of mind and it’s something about nourishing the soul during the dark parts of the year. It’s something about aunties and uncles, parents and grandparents, neighbours and friends. Everyone has their song to sing and you’re so young that you’ve never heard most of them before. People sing along to the bits they know and laugh and smile and make jokes when they don’t. The later the night becomes the better the songs get and the faster the repartee becomes. Your older cousins teach you dirty words and you’re surprised to hear your Nana tell even dirtier jokes. You laugh until you cry and then cry until you laugh again. You’re delirious. Still buzzing at school on Monday you give up trying to explain to your friends what happened, trying to explain the songs you heard that you thought everyone else must know. The one about the boat turning nine times around with the poor old dog who was drowned that no one believes you heard because ‘they wouldn’t be allowed have that in a song’.
“These are some of my best and earliest memories and although it took me years to realise it, my subsequent mining of the seam of tradition has been a quest to rediscover the raw material of those magical nights. That strange undiluted something in the air. I still can’t do the feeling justice with words. Instead I’ve listened hard and tried to experience it again. The tracks I’ve selected for this album are the closest I’ve come. Wild but never out of control, simple in structure but endlessly complex, sometimes dark but always comforting. I can feel the same unhinged energy of those nights in the music of The Raineys and Johnny Doran; the same devilish humour in the mischievous singing of Nora Cleary and John Reilly Jr.; the same tones of distilled emotion in the singing of Mary Doran and Grace Toland. It’s music that‘s spoken directly to my soul. I hope that you experience a bit of this for yourself.”
– Ian Lynch
Fire Draw Near – An Anthology of Traditional Irish Song and Music is the fifth album to be released by River Lea, following records by Lisa O’Neill, Brìghde Chaimbeul, Ye Vagabonds and John Francis Flynn. Fire Draw Near is also a monthly podcast and radio show, hosted by Ian Lynch which investigates Irish traditional music in all its myriad forms.
Pre-Order Fire Draw Near: https://ffm.to/firedrawnear
Fire Draw Near Album tracklisting:
- The Raineys – Woman Of The House
- Mary Doran – When I Was In Horseback
- Tom Lenihan – Paddy’s Panacea
- Tommy Reck – The Kilfrush / The Trip To Durrow
- Frank Harte – The Finding Of Moses
- Nora Cleary – The Codfish
- Joe Heaney – Amhrán na hEascainne
- John Reilly Jr – The Jolly Tinker
- Grace Toland – Flora
- Johnny Doran – Colonel Fraser, My Love Is In America, Rakish Paddy
- Luke Cheevers – Ulysses
- Joe Holmes – The Dark Eyed Gypsy
- Francie Byrne – The Cat That Kittled In Jamie’s Wig
Album compiled and researched by Ian Lynch.
Compilation produced by Tim Chipping.
Artwork by Huargo.