The Woman in the Moon / Tiocfaidh an Samhradh (Summer Will Come) is the new single from Irish singer-songwriter Bróna McVittie, due for release on 7th May 2022. The Woman in the Moon is the title track from Bróna’s forthcoming third album, out in October 2022. It follows her acclaimed albums We are the Wildlife (January 2018) and The Man in the Mountain (September 2020).
Both albums were Featured Albums of the Month on Folk Radio UK, with Thomas Blake calling her 2018 debut “a profoundly powerful and quietly ambitious statement and one of the most distinctive debuts you are likely to hear all year.” He also reviewed her 2020 release, concluding: “The Man In The Mountain’s predecessor was one of the best releases of 2018, but somehow Brona McVittie has surpassed herself. There is an added maturity, a new breadth of influence, and a creative control that sets this album apart. But she never loses the wide-eyed sense of wonder at the poetry of the natural world. If she set out to reflect that beauty and that wonder in music, she has succeeded admirably.”
While we’ve yet to hear Bróna’s new album, these two new tracks strongly hint at the path this artist is on, and it’s still very much in ascendance. Her interpretation of folk music is truly visionary, vital and refreshing.
Bróna has steadily built a reputation for her eerie, Celtic lore-inspired electronic folk. With The Woman in the Moon, she adds more than a touch of Alice Coltrane with the mix of harp, transcendental melodies and understated rhythms from guest musicians Brazilian drummer Marius Rodrigues, who recently recorded with Robert Wyatt, and jazz double bassist Oli Hayhurst, who performs with Pharaoh Sanders. Having previously collaborated with legendary Scandi trumpet maestro Arve Henriksen on The Man in the Mountain, the vein of jazz-influenced instrumentation is a continuation of Bróna’s desire to present traditional and contemporary folk songs in new clothing.
Tiocfaidh an Samhradh is the first traditional Irish Gaelic song Bróna has included in her solo repertoire; she explains, “I’ve sung many Irish Gaelic songs over the years, both as leader of Celtic acapella outfit Rún, and as lead singer for the London Lasses, so it’s a natural progression for me to work this into my solo output. I’ve been meaning to learn Tiocfaidh an Samhradh ever since I heard Mícheál Ó Domhnaill‘s version with the Bothy Band. The melody and lyrics captured my heart”.
Bróna’s second album, The Man in the Mountain, was ranked 4th in The Guardian’s 10 Best Folk Albums of 2020 and received four-star reviews from Mojo and the national and local press. Her tracks have been broadcast on BBC Radio 2 Folk Show, BBC Radio 3 and BBC 6Music by Mark Radcliffe, Iggy Pop, Gideon Coe, Cerys Matthews and Lauren Laverne; on regional BBC channels by Lynette Fay, Eve Blair and more; in Ireland on RTÉ radio by John Kelly, Ellen Crannitch and Cian Ó Cíobháin as well as in Italy, The Netherlands, the USA, Canada and Australia. In 2019 Bróna performed with her trio at Dublin’s National Concert Hall, the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, London’s Kings Place, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, Celtic Connections, TradFest and WOMAD. The Woman in the Moon was recorded at Corkbot Castle Studios in County Down and Ace Recording Studio in Devon.
Bróna has a launch show on 7th May 2022 at the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in Belfast.
Find out more here: http://bronamcvittie.com/