Our Tune of the Day comes from Brìghde Chaimbeul with her new single “Tha Fonn Gun Bhi Trom (I Am Disposed of Mirth)”. The single is taken from her second album ‘Carry Them With Us’ (due out on 14 April on tak:til/ Glitterbeat). The accompanying music video was conceptualised and shot by Jordan Young and John Smith and was filmed on the Isle of Skye from where Brìghde hails and stars Sarah Macpherson. It features the stunning scenery of The Cuillin, whose main dramatic jagged ridge inspired Duncan Chisholm’s most recent album.
Chaimbeul created “Tha Fonn Gun Bhi Trom: I Am Disposed Of Mirth”, the first single from the album, in tandem with acclaimed Canadian sound explorer and saxophonist Colin Stetson (Arcade Fire) who also co-produced the album. They seem to inhabit the same space, breathe the same air. Often it’s hard to tell where one instrument ends and the other begins – as she notes, “his style and breathing fit with the pipes.” It’s hypnotic, alive – the music sometimes seems to suddenly bubble and flutter into the air. It’s not studio trickery, simply the way they played. “There are times it sounds as if something’s going on,” Chaimbeul agrees, “but it was all organic.”
Stream the single here | Pre-Order the Album
Her piping has earned her a BBC Young Folk Award and a Horizon Award and seen her perform for heads of state at the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow. She’s brought the instrument to a global stage, and with this album, she’s taken it beyond folk music, discovering a place where the tradition and minimalism meet, offering her the freedom to experiment in sound and create something completely her own.
Brìghde released her debut album, The Reeling, in 2019 (reviewed here), and last year, she joined forces with Ross Ainslie and Steven Byrnes for LAS (reviewed here).
…a highly accomplished and outstanding album that, probably more than any other you’ll hear this year, unifies innovation and tradition.
Thomas Blake on LAS
‘Carry Them With Us’ is described as an exhilarating weave of rich textural drones, trance atmospheres and instrumental folk traditions.
Pre-Order ‘Carry Them With Us’ via Bandcamp: https://brighdechaimbeul.bandcamp.com/album/carry-them-with-us
Carry Them With Us Tracklisting
- Pililiu – The Call of The Redshank
- Tha Fonn Gun Bhi Trom – I Am Disposed of Mirth
- Banish The Giant Of Doubt & Despair
- Crònan (i)
- Uguviu (ii)
- Piobaireachd Nan Eun
- Oran an Eich-Uisge – Song of the Waterhorse
- ‘S Mi Gabhail an Rathaid – I Take The Road
- Bonn Beinn Eadarra – The Haunting