REVIEW FROM www.livingtradition.co.uk

Líadan - CASADH NA TAOIDE (TURNING THE TIDE)
Líadan LN0002

Casadh Na Taoide is the second CD release from this vibrant young female band whose six members hail from Galway and Limerick. Their music has already been prominently endorsed by Lúnasa’s Kevin Crawford and Altan’s Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, the latter describing it as “finely polished, smoothly flowing and strong”. That juxtaposition of phrases sounds just right to my ears, for on the evidence of this CD it’s clear they’re a happy bunch of women who really love playing together, believe in the music and their ability to carry it off and manage effortlessly to take these qualities straight across to the listener.

Having generated a spontaneous sense of flow with their playing, they then proceed to go confidently with that flow, and with sparkling results. And although all six Líadan ladies sing, the band is actually fortunate to have no fewer than three fine lead singers – Elaine, Valerie and Síle – to call on; and so between them the band possesses an ability to move easily between English and Gaelic, between contemporary folk and sean-nós stylings. Having said that, and however persuasively Elaine phrases Early In The Month Of Spring or Valerie Claire’s composition Bold Atlantic, I admit I find the two songs sung by Síle (in Gaelic) especially impressive, and the intense Tomás Bàn Mac Aogáin is surely an album standout. Accompaniments are unerringly sensitive too, gentle yet characterful. One interesting and notable feature of Líadan in terms of instrumental complement is that it includes no guitar, the usual rhythmic underpinning role being (altogether more deftly yet no less convincingly) mainly filled by Síle Denvir’s harp. The band is also unusual in boasting two fiddlers (Claire Dolan and Valerie Casey) and two whistle/flute players (Elaine Cormican and Catherine Clohessy), the lineup being completed by piano accordionist Deirdre Chawke. This means that the overall band sound is quite innovative and versatile, and thus the potential blend achieved can transform light and shade from mellow darkness to dappled sunshine, as on the delicious slow-paced Clothier’s March. In all, Líadan isn’t just another band of young Irish pretenders, “ladies to cherish” with pretty faces and nice looks, but a seriously accomplished outfit who respect their craft, one that is very probably set to take the scene by the proverbial predicted storm. www.liadan.ie

David Kidman