Rónán Ó Snodaigh & Myles O’Reilly, our Artists of the Month for August), released their new album, The Beautiful Road, on Claddagh Records (Order here). In his review of the album, Thomas Blake concludes: The Beautiful Road is a calmative, a sonic balm in times of literal and metaphorical noise, but also a reminder of the verve and the life that can still exist in music. It’s an exceptional feat.
The duo have just released a new video for one of the album’s many highlights, Calling All Angels on which Thomas noted: “Calling All Angels takes the form of a colloquial entreaty to a higher being; its lighthearted edge is tempered by genuine tenderness.”
The video was filmed and edited by Myles O’Reilly and it features Rónán and Wexford hurler Diarmuid Lyng.
Speaking on the video, Diarmuid says:
“I’ve long admired the work of Myles O’Reilly and Rónán Ó Snodaigh, both individually and collectively. Their first album was my go-to soundtrack for the lockdown. To get the opportunity to work with them was a gift. Particularly because the invite was ‘come as yourself, no acting, no staging of shots—just be as you’d be.’ It’s a rare invite when someone is shooting; it summons a grace that extends beyond the people and their stories. Myself and Ró were free to do as we generally do when we spend time together. We discussed through movement the ways in which music and hurling are similar, what separates us, and what brings us back together. For me, it was a chance to bridge the divide that can be present between the creative and the structured, both in myself and in the game in general.
“Hurling is a fundamentally creative process, but as we continue down the path laid out by statisticians and sports psychologists, it’s hard not to think that some outlet for our young men, in particular, is being lost—individual creativity suffering function and outcome. At the same time, it’s a celebration of what the game is: a tonic, a community, our way of making sense of the fine line between battle and play—our game, played our way. Ró has been playing with the Katas of hurling from a young age, and we’ve been working on the footwork and movement native to the game to bring them to life. This is something we do when we get together without a specific aim in mind, but then along comes Myles with his camera, and the exploration finds a worthy outlet.”
Myles adds:
“Upon hearing the track ‘Calling All Angels’ for the first time, I immediately recognised it was a total classic. It took me a while to fully grasp the depth of the lyrics, which hold a very personal significance for Rónán. He has written them so beautifully for them to hold a Universal meaning, and everyone has their own experience of angels. So, as we embarked on creating the video, our aim was to avoid a literal representation of the Rónán’s deeper meaning. As he and Diarmuid began to play with their hurls on the Dublin seafront, I realised it was my responsibility, much like Rónán’s approach to his lyrics, to view the scene through a poetic lens. I still can’t describe or explain what exactly they were doing, other than sharing a deeply personal and playful moment in their own private and symbolic way.”
Calling All Angels is also our Song of the Day.
Live Dates
Sat Sept 2nd – Electric Picnic
Sat Sept 23rd – Waterville, Kerry Tickets
Sun Sept 24th – Connolly’s, West Cork Tickets
Wed Sept 27th – Whelans, Dublin
Friday Oct 20th – Culdaff, Donegal
More to be announced
Connect:
Rónán – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram – Spotify – Bandcamp
Myles – Youtube – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram – Spotify – Bandcamp – Patreon