Éist Anois Agus Arís/Songs in Their Native Language album review: too much cut and haste

Dara Records revisit earlier compilations Éist and Éist Arís with this double album, clearly aimed at an international audience. This edition is anchored by material from the originals, highlights from which include Eithne Ní Uallacháin’s Óró and Liam Ó Maonlaí’s percussive and freewheeling take on Sadhbh Ní Bhruinnealadh.

This is essentially about the next generation, with contributions from the Black family in their many guises: Róisín Ó, Aoife Scott and The Coronas, alongside tracks from The Gloaming, Danú, Róisín Elsafty and others. Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh and Danú’s Muirisín Deas Set is a standout, but there’s little to unite the set list amid an excess of mixing-desk interference.

Sleeve note and album labelling errors and omissions abound in what feels like a rushed release.

[ irelandcd.com ]