CÚIG - The Theory Of Chaos
Copperplate COPP032
This is the second release by a young quintet from the North of Ireland, named after the Irish word for the figure 5. It comes on the heels of their highly-celebrated debut album, which in turn was helped along by members of the band winning several All Ireland Fleadh titles.
This second outing is bold and confident. They are out of the blocks quickly with a set of tunes called Midnight. The guitar and drums set the rhythm, then the pipes, banjo and accordion dance in. They’ve included several original songs this time. One of them, Carry On, already has a considerable following from an Aer Lingus social media campaign. The songs are more thoughtful than the full abandon of their treatment of tunes, but they do bring in their instrumental abilities to colour a song. Throughout, the playing is precise, with some great percussive backing and powerful arrangements.
With so many fine players these days, sometimes it is the seemingly-small dynamics that allow one band to shine through. As the reference to chaos theory in the title suggests, Cúig shows that the band’s refinements in rhythm and arrangement can have grand consequences. The members played together for many years before hitting the stages, and that connection shows in the maturity of their material. This is a quite exciting sophomore release from a band to watch – and to listen to often.
www.cuigmusic.com
Ivan Emke
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Many CDs we review are available from The Listening Post. Check to see if this CD is available. The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 128 of The Living Tradition magazine. |