Dónal Clancy: Songs of a Roving Blade

At a time when the trad firmament is vibrating with inventive and unpredictable collaborations, Dónal Clancy casts his gaze largely backwards with this ballad collection. His pedigree is tangible – his father Liam's declarative singing style weaves its way through his son's vocals, though Donal's style is altogether more subtle and modest. He's at his best on the genteel The Broom of the Cowdenknowes, but elsewhere arrangements are workmanlike and predictable, as are most of the songs, from An Crúiscín Lán to The Sean Bhean Bhocht. Only his reading of Mrs McGrath reveals a fresh, familial approach to a song so robustly covered by Bruce Springsteen in his Seeger Sessions album. While Clancy's musicianship is consistently reliable (on guitar, mandolin, fretless bass, ukelele and whistle), there's a disappointing lack of fresh thinking underpinning his homage to The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem's muscular balladeering. donalclancy.com