Inni-K – Iníon
Green Willow Records – 11 February 2022
Dublin-based singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Inni-K (Eithne Ní Chatháin) turns her attention to the rich heritage of Irish traditional sean-nós singing on her new album Iníon. It’s a singing style that she admits first captured her attention from the age of 11 when listening ‘transfixed’ to Seosamh Ó hÉanaí on her parent’s record player.
That same magic is ever-present on Iníon, on which she takes those original tunes and works them into something different yet sympathetic. Another step in the life of a traditional form, maintaining, retaining the truth of its essence but seeing – or rather hearing what can be done now.
The opening track, An Tiarna Randal, an Irish version of Lord Randall, is a great example of Inni-K’s interpretation and vision. Immediately I’m struck by the clarity of her voice; I don’t so much hear it as consume it. Then the merest hint of the clarinet by Matthew Berrill makes me sit up as it warmly wraps itself around the spaces between the words. And then, as the tune progresses, the percussion of Brian Walsh adds further form, yet in a compassionate way. Here you have Inni-K’s vision in one track. But don’t stop there.
A raw fiddle opens Casadh an tSúgáin, a tale of a mother who did not take to her daughter’s lover, finding an ingenious way of sending the hapless man away. Lord Gregory is a darker tale, Mary Barnecutt’s cello with the clarinet giving the opening a William Walton Façade feel. This is a sizeable seven-minute song, a version from Elizabeth Cronin, one of the more influential sean-nós singers of the twentieth century. That Walton feel shines through again in a brighter way on Cuc-a-neaindí, another from Elizabeth Cronin (the video premieres below), but this is for bouncing the baby on the knee.
In An Raibh Tú ar an gCarraig, the only instrument is Inni-K’s voice, one that, as promised from the first track, continues to consume. Even though Éamonn an Chnoic has the percussion punctuating and the clarinet curving in the background, it is the voice, softer here, that captures me. It also clearly shows the personal relationship the singer has with this song.
The album closes with a traditional Connemara lullaby, Hó-bha-ín, a song of apparently made-up verses:
Agus d’imigh do Mhama le Filipe Dall,
Agus níl ‘fhios a’m beo cé hé!
And your mother went off with Blind Philip,
And I don’t know for the life of me who he is!
Is tá capall an tsagairt i ngarraí Sheáin Ghabha,
Mura gcuire tú as í, óra, déanfaidh sí foghail.
And the priest’s horse is in Séan the blacksmith’s garden
If you don’t put her out, oh, she will cause trouble!
However, the soothing sounds of the sung words hopefully lull the child to sleep.
The beauty and control of Inni-K’s voice works effortlessly, as one would expect in sean-nós, to deliver the essence of the words, to allow the tale to unfold. Complementing this, the innovative use of the instruments, particularly the clarinet, adds a texture that, far from distracting the listener, augments the whole feel. Iníon is an album of tremendous understatement, power and beauty.
Video Premiere: Cuc-a-neaindí
Inni-K on Cuc-a-neaindí:
Is í Elizabeth Cronin an fhoinse don amhrán seo leis. Amhrán do pháiste ar an nglúin. Tá ana chraic go deo ag baint leis agus ba mhinic mo neachtanna agus nia á gcaitheamh san aer agam leis. Thánadar thar n-ais don tae, buíochas le Dia!
Elizabeth Cronin is also the source for this song. A dandling song for a young child, it’s full of fun and it’s often that I sang it for my nieces and nephew whilst throwing them up in the air! They came back down for tea, thank God!
We wanted our version to be playful, reflecting the fun and rather random lyrics in the song:
Hups a Sheáin, a bhráthair, fuair do mháthair bás
Hups Seán, my friend, your mother died
O ní bhfuair ní bhfuair do chuaigh sí suas an tsráid
O she didn’t she didn’t, she went up the street
Hups a Sheáin, a bhráthair, fuair do mháthair bás
Hups Seán, my friend, your mother died
O ní bhfuair in aon chor, chuaigh sí suas an tsráid.
O she didn’t at all, she went up the street.
As with a lot of these types of songs, you could say it’s much more about the rhythm of the words and the tune and the act the song is accompanying than looking for any deep meaning!
Iníon is out on 11 February 2022
Order via Bandcamp: https://inni-k.bandcamp.com/album/in-on