Pádraig Rynne’s Notify & Pauline Scanlon | Album Review

The concertina continues its impressive trajectory from the margins to centre stage in the hands of Pádraig Rynne, whose 2014 album Notify scuppered all preconceptions of what this diminutive instrument is capable of. In Rynne's hands, the concertina is adventurous, agile and fragile in equal parts. Rynne has changed his dance partners dramatically for this time EP, but he's no less sonically audacious. Lumiere's Pauline Scanlon joins Notify for a short tour. However, the song choices (The Limerick Rake, Bog Braon) dilute rather than distil Notify's distinctive sound. Scanlon's high-lonesome vocals, as well, are at an odd angle to Rynne's dense arrangements, and the closing lullaby blurs the edges of an otherwise often delicious musical experiment. padraigrynne.com