This Friday (14th January), the folk-electronica powerhouse four-piece band Niteworks release their cinematic new album A’ Ghrian [pronounced Ah Ghree-un]. Blending Scottish traditional, folk and Gaelic music with cutting-edge electronica, the band, comprising of Innes Strachan (synth/keys), Allan MacDonald (pipes), Christopher Nicolson (bass), and Ruairidh Graham (drums), call on a series of special guests to add to their exhilarating sound. This includes stunning guest vocals from long-time collaborators Sian (Eilidh Cormack, Ceitlin Lilidh and Ellen MacDonald), including a solo vocal from Ellen. The inimitable tones of celebrated Scottish singers Kathleen MacInnes, Beth Malcolm, Alasdair Whyte and Hannah Rarity. Also featured are Fiona MacAskill, Aileen Reid and Laura Wilkie of Kinnaris Quintet alongside Susan Appelbe on strings. There’s even an all-star backing choir of Pedro Cameron (Man of the Minch), Deirdre Graham, Donald Macdonald (The Islands), Seonaidh MacIntyre (Trail West), Robert Robertson (Tide Lines) and Sian on Thèid mi lem Dheòin Feat. Alasdair Whyte.
You can hear that cinematic touch they’ve mastered so well on Gloomy Winter featuring Hannah Rarity below. The song is from the pen of the ‘Weaver Poet’ Robert Tannahill (1774 – 1810), who also gave us “The Braes of Balquhidder”.
Ruairidh Graham said: “Collaborating with Hannah Rarity on Robert Tannahill’s Gloomy Winter was a great experience. It’s the first time, as a band, we have worked with Scots song, so it was really important to us that we got it right.
“There has been a lot of activism of late – especially in the trad scene – around the importance of Gaelic and Scots working together, so we feel that Gloomy Winter is a bit of a nod to this in our own way as we branch out from Gaelic songs to Scots.
“Striking a balance between being respectful to a song’s cultural origin and heritage, whilst also presenting that song within a totally different and modern musical environment, can be tricky sometimes, but this was made so much easier by Hannah’s vocals. She has such a powerful voice that really drives the song forward, allowing us to build a big sound around it and create something really cinematic ,which is what we were going for with this track.”
Hannah Rarity said: “It was a brilliant experience to work with the Niteworks boys on this track. To hear them bring this Tannahill Scots song from early 1800s to life in their own way has been really exciting and I think they’ve created something that will draw new audiences to these songs. I particularly love the string arrangement and the power it gives to the song.”
A’ Ghrian will be available to buy on CD and stream and download on all digital platforms on Friday 14th January.
The band will tour the album with live dates scheduled from December 2021 until the end of 2022, including a sell-out return to Celtic Connections in January, where they will join forces with composer John Logan and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra to showcase exclusive orchestral versions of their genre-bending back catalogue.
The album was funded by Creative Scotland and recorded in autumn 2021 with Andrea Gobbi at GloWormRecording in Glasgow.
https://niteworksband.bandcamp.com/
Photo Credit: Magnus Graham