In 2021, we Ulster trio TRÚ unleashed their remarkable debut album No Fixed Abode; while the album had all the energy befitting a first offering, it also bore the stamp of quality usually reserved for seasoned artists. The good news is that they have a new album on the way titled Eternity Near and have just released their lead single ‘Long Black Veil’, the video for which you can watch below. If any band can cast such a classic song in a new contemporary light, Trú can; the accompanying video by Je Suis Le Cat Productions is a powerfully moving masterpiece.
Recording their second album in a time of global sickness, war and personal struggles, TRÚ has drawn on old wisdom to deal with the realities of death and love. On this record, the trio sings of timeless folk characters in hand-picked trad songs and original compositions inspired by the worlds of sean nós, Scots poetry and Americana ballads.
“Eternity Near” follows the critical success of their debut 2021 album (“No Fixed Abode”), which as well as being a Folk Radio Featured Album of the Month and one of our Best Albums of 2021, was also nominated for Best Album at Northern Ireland Music Prize, ranked in MOJO’s Top 10 Folk Albums of the year, and was playlisted on BBC Introducing. The trio’s sophomore offering further explores the intersection between traditional folk material, original songwriting styles and contemporary production techniques.
The band’s name nods to their shared heritage. The trú was a mythological trio of poet-musicians in ancient Ulster. They were revered throughout the Celtic world, some believing their songs and stories came to them from the future. Others maintained that the trú were possessed by spirits during performance. As such, they were considered gatekeepers to the Otherworld.
It’s here where this Northern Irish trio draws their inspiration. Michael Mormecha, Zachary Trouton and Dónal Kearney grew up with different musical palettes but also came from distinct cultural identities as children of the Peace Agreement in Northern Ireland. The trio has mixed heritage (British-Ukrainian, Ulster-Scots and Irish Nationalist) and together they have fostered an unusual and fruitful collaborative ethos based on respect and exploration. Leaning into their individuality, an eclectic repertoire of influences (from Clannad to Nine Inch Nails via Joni Mitchell and The Beatles) makes for an intriguing chemistry.
Produced against the backdrop of recent break-ups, family ill-health and bereavement, “Eternity Near” became a source of healing and catharsis for the band over the past 18 months. The record is bookended by two voices from beyond the grave (one an adulterer, the other a spéirbhean/spirit). We also witness the shooting of a selkie and listen to a ribcage harp from one of the oldest murder ballads in the English tradition. We hear songs of forbidden and unrequited love and encounter the archetypal temptress – Molly/Malaidh – in two different tracks.
Perhaps a response to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, and in light of recent private challenges for Mormecha, Trouton and Kearney, this album ignores the finality of death to peer beyond. In accessing the afterlife, the supernatural, and the overwhelm of love, these folk songs deal with immortality. Indeed, they may be the closest we will ever get to eternity.
To mark the album announcement, they are sharing their new video for their lead single Long Black Veil which is out not on streaming services and can be heard on our Regular Folk Playlist.
Trú tell us:
What would you do if the only way to save your own bacon was to curse your lover?
Maybe you’d remain silent and sacrifice yourself. And maybe you’d sing a song to tell us all about it – one that echoes in Eternity, a voice from beyond the grave.
In the late 1950s, Texan hit machine Marijohn Wilkin sat down with her collaborator, Danny Dill, to create this country classic along those lines. Then Johnny Cash did a nice wee version of it too.
We wish we wrote it.
They may not have written it, but I don’t think I’ve heard a more beautiful and moving interpretation.
Eternity Near is due for release in September 2023
Website: http://www.tru-music.com/