The much-anticipated album ‘An Bhuatais and The Meaning of Life‘ is a production of rare beauty, and is fast becoming an essential part of the collection of all serious traditional music lovers. (There’s a rare chance in these Covid times to see the show live in Castlebar Weds, Dec 1st.)
Lorcán Mac Mathúna’s immersive collection of traditional songs signals a new appraisal of what people are thirsting for in their consumption of music. Of late, it increasingly feels that music has been stripped of context: the packaging and notes becoming ever-flimsier to save costs even in the golden age of the CD – and content reduced to digital products designed for fleeting impact and image driven sales.
With ‘An Bhuatais & The Meaning of Life‘ this award-nominated seannós singer and composer went in the exact opposite direction.
This is a collection of beautifully produced tracks with impeccable playing and a production aesthetic that taps into the emotional message of each song. It comes with a collection of thoughtful essays on the meaning of the songs and the themes that drive the creation of traditional art. Those explorations are presented in a hard backed book with gold foil lettering. It looks, feels and sounds like a serious, impressive, work of art.
The music and text is an immersive contemplative experience which was conceived to draw the listener into the deepest realms of understanding of the music, the tradition, and of human nature.
The recent nomination of the title track, An Bhuatais (The Boot), for the RTÉ˙ Folk Awards is recognition not just of the quality of the musicianship on this album, but also of the concept of the entire project.
That track, An Bhuatais, is an epic 8-minute rhapsody shaped by a distinctively complex, sophisticated yet unpolished traditional approach. Reminiscent of the playing of Séamus Ennis, the pipes of Éamonn Galldubh play with controlled abandon in the instrumental, bending the notes occasionally. This track has the untamed freedom in its playing reminiscent of some of the best traditional playing. The arrival of Daire Bracken’s fiddle, playing broken bass line adds further dramatic impulse, while the ever-present thick clustered cords of Martin Tourish gives an orchestral depth of tone. It’s an electrifying, stand-out track.
The song dates from the post-penal times and it addresses a man of the cloth who is more concerned with the symbols of wealth than of his pastoral duties. The song notes go into this subject and pick apart the deeper implications of a failure to live up to your words.
The companion book of essays delves into the themes that run through the selected songs.
Eye witness account of the battle of Clontarf introduce a wide ranging discussion of the portrayal of the heroic archetype in the heroic epic. From An Táin to the Iliad and Clontarf, this conception of the proper way to face mortality throughout the writings of the ages is examined; as are the philosophical and religious ideas that influenced it from the pagan to the Christian. The music chosen to reflect on this writing, Plait agus Domhnaill (Clontarf), is a thrilling and epic explosion of rhythms and surging dramatic tensions.
Two new compositions based on the lyrics of the Catholic poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, delve deep into his theory of inscape and the subject of objective truth.
The Windhover and Pied Beauty are an intensely theological refutation of cultural relativity and the two compositions based on these texts use the sprung rhythm devised by the poet to create exquisite patterns of soaring sound and quiet contemplation. In the accompanying essays, Mac Mathúna returns to Hopkins fundamental metaphor again and again: that “if language is to mean anything it must contain truth; it can’t create truth. Truth is not called into being by words in a nominal way, words must represent the truth in an essentialist way.”
The musical arrangements are key to the immersive aesthetic of this collection. The most prevalent musical mood is contemplative. An Droimeann Donn Dílis has an aching nostalgia for a lost cultural past, a dream-time resonance that is richly delved with the treacle-thick timbres of Galldubh’s saxophone, and the starlight lightness of Tourish’s accordion.
Tourish, a man with well established credentials as a melody player and composer from his Altan playing, brings a unique musical sensitivity to his accompanying in this collaboration. He provides rich bases and clustered cords that give an incredibly rich orchestral feel to the album. His frequent flights of harmony add a delightfully agile touch.
Daire Bracken on fiddle provides some terrific rhythms. His lead in the rhythm on Plait agus Domhnaill brings all the epic chaos of the battle of Clontarf swimming into view, and his pulsing chord in An Raibh Tú ar an gCarraig, is a uniquely beautiful thing. Occasionally he leaves this rhythm running on a loop and plays an ecstatic melody line on top, leaving you wanting more of even an 8 minute track.
This is music that works on so many levels. Expertly arranged, it is music that can play in the background providing a mood template, and it is music that reveals so much more when engaged closely with. The most rewarding way to do this is to cut out all distractions and read the book while the music plays. At just under 70 minutes it makes for an immersive experience, the type that is becoming harder to obtain in a distraction-filled world.
The companion book, is a handy 104 pages. Just long enough to read while the album plays, but also something that will draw you back again and again. This is an excellent concept: music that actually means something. Music that explores the psychology and spirituality of the human condition; and contextual writing that links that to the creative sense making of traditions, stories, myth, and philosophy. A fine addition to the bookshelf and a smashing Christmas stocking filler if you are thinking along those lines right now.
An Bhuatais & The Meaning of Life can be obtained here
Lorcán Mac Mathúna and his fellow musicians will perform in Castlebar tomorrow evening, Wednesday (Dec 1) at the Linenhall Arts Centre at 8pm.