Ye Vagabonds will release their second album for Rough Trade’s River Lea label. Titled Nine Waves, the album will be released on May 13th; they will also be touring Europe, the UK and the US this year.
Originally hailing from rural Carlow but now based at the heart of Ireland’s thriving traditional folk scene in Dublin, sibling duo Ye Vagabonds, Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn, released their first EP in 2015 (Rose & Briar). They followed with their self-titled debut album in 2017 (reviewed here), and their “mellow and richly textured…beautiful instrumental sounds and sibling-style harmony vocals” began to reach more ears.
In terms of reach, we saw those scales tip when they signed to the River Lea label run by Geoff Travis & Jeannette Lee of Rough Trade along with music journalist Tim Chipping. With their second album, The Hare’s Lament (reviewed here), they exceeded everyone’s expectations, including those of their label, as shared in our interview here. As noted in our album review, Ye Vagabonds music has “an exhilarating contemporary edge, and their grasp of traditional material is sensitive without ever being conservative”. That contemporary edge to their music is shared with others on the label, including Brìghde Chaimbeul and Lisa O’Neill. Hence, it comes as no surprise that, for Nine Waves, they turned to John ‘Spud’ Murphy to produce the album, who has worked with the likes of Lankum, another group that dance along that boundary-pushing edge.
Since The Hare’s Lament, the duo have continued to grow in stature, helped along the way by winning the RTE Radio One Folk Award for Best Traditional Folk Track. Ye Vagabonds were also named Best Folk Group for the second time at the 2021 ceremony, where they hold the record for most awarded artists. They seem such a grounded duo, something that comes across in their music and choices – their slow barge tour of Ireland’s waterways was a prime example during which they met up with other musicians and performed intimate gigs along the way (read our guest feature series on that tour here).
On Nine Waves, they expand their sound through several guest musicians, their choice of which is exemplary. They include Kate Ellis (cello) and Caimin Gilmore (double bass), both members of the Irish contemporary classical group Crash Ensemble, and Ryan Hargadon (Anna Mieke, Rachael Lavelle, Kojaque) on piano and saxophone. The record also features concertina from Cormac Begley and harmonium from regular touring member of Ye Vagabonds, Alain McFadden.
The first single to be taken from the album is Blue Is The Eye, of which Brían explains:
“This song started as a poem I wrote for an old friend on Arranmore who passed away in late 2020. He used to bring me out fishing as a kid, and later when I got into singing we bonded over songs even more. When he was younger he knew Róise Rua, a well-known singer from the island. He often told me of when he used to visit her, and how she would give him a coal from the fire to light his way home at night. In his last few years he would sit and watch boats come and go across the bay all day. We’d always be happily aware of his eyes on us when we’d be out on the sea. The week he died, his son Jerry took myself and Diarmuid out fishing, and we half-wondered if he was watching still. A minke whale breeched next to our boat that afternoon.”
This is another exciting chapter in the life of Ye Vagabonds, and on the strength of their lead single, they have taken their music to another level; this is sure to be in the “Best of” end of year lists.
The single can be streamed here, and they also performed it live on RTÉ recently:
‘Nine Waves’ Album Track Listing:
- Tuaim
- An Island
- Lord Gregory
- Blue Is The Eye
- The Humours of Glin
- Go Away and Come Back Hither
- Joyáil
- Her Mantle So Green
- Fuaim
- The Munster Jig
- Máire Bhán
Pre-Order Nine Waves (13th May 2022) on Digital/CD/Clear or Black Vinyl: https://ffm.to/ninewaves
Forthcoming Tour Dates:
2nd May – Brudenell, Leeds
3rd May – The King’s Arms, Manchester
4th May – Blue Arrow, Glasgow
5th May – Bodega, Nottingham
6th May – Temperance Cafe, Leamington Spa
7th May – King’s Place, London
9th May – The Greys, Brighton
10th May – The Redgrave Theatre, Bristol
11th May – Bluestone, Pembrokeshire
12th May – Liverpool Philharmonic, Liverpool
1st June – Fire In The Mountain (Wales)
9th June – Vicar St Dublin Launch Show
11th June – Hebden Bridge Folk Festival
Ye Vagabonds will be touring Europe, the UK and the US in 2022. Tickets are available from yevagabonds.com.