It’s a real decision to do an album of tunes on the alto-violin, an instrument similar to the viola in size but played vertically, like a cello. Fiddle player and composer Ultan O’Brien, who hails from the ‘wilds of County Clare in the West of Ireland’ has done just that with Dancing the Line and the lower notes of the alto breathe rustic life into these fourteen songs, six traditional and eight composed by Ultan.
An engaging artist with a keen interest in the improvisational side of Irish music, Ultan’s playing is muscular, with the growl of the alto-violin a point of difference. You can hear it straight off on Iron Mountain Foothills, an original piece (perhaps improvised?) that has echoes of a war lament and plays out with thick, metallic bowed strings. With the structure of an air, this song is ghostly and somehow elegiac; it’s a mesmerising introduction.
Percussive dancer Nic Gareiss guests on several of the songs and brings high energy to pieces like the traditional Boyne Hunt. A short reel Ultan first heard from an Alan Lomax recording, this quick stepper is a joy and leads into It was in the Year Eighteen Hundred and Four, a more atmospheric piece that benefits from an accordion part from the wonderful Martin Green and some windy field recordings from coastal County Clare. Another traditional song of fairly mysterious origins, this serious and cyclical piece is stunning in its underlying drama and musical restraint.
Further on, miniature piece Fisherman’s Garden has no right to fit so much ambiguity and interest into less than a minute. With a strange background rustle that I can only attribute to Nic Gareiss, Ultan’s fiddle plays a wavering line that feels somehow nervous and respectful. This one leads neatly into Macha, another track that seems interested in the art of improvisation and experimentation. Something of an oddity, there is a modern edge to this one, with sonic pulses living beneath the surface and bow scrapes haunting the main tune.
The last two tracks are the longest by far, hitting a combined fourteen minutes. Secret House in Fintra Beg feels ethereal, with a spectral fiddle line ebbing and flowing through drone lines, whistling and field recordings. Like a sound collage, this intricate piece feels like a journey through landscapes, lives and eras. It is powerful music, made all the more so by an intense last couple of minutes of tidal sound recordings and fast-paced percussive dance.
Equally emotive but very different is final track, Death Doula Meet, a song built around a vocal lament from Irish dancer Edwina Guckian that introduces the music and is electronically manipulated and entwined throughout. The fiddle here is beautifully mournful and made all the more dramatic by deep electronic drones that threaten to drown it in places. A far cry from the more traditional dance tunes on the album and more in keeping with Macha, this experimental piece is surprising and deeply felt.
Dancing the Line is such a confident collection of songs; you can feel the ideas brimming in every sweep of Ultan’s bow, and there is a hint of the maverick in his musicianship, like he is challenging these tunes and squeezing every bit of life from them. What a fantastic album it is, and what a great label Nyahh is too. Nothing is overdone or superfluous here; it is music in its purest state. I love it.
Dancing the Line (March 20th, 2025) Nyahh Records
Order via Bandcamp: https://nyahhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ultan-obrien-dancing-the-line