Danú - Ten Thousand Miles (2018)

A band like Danú remind me of the tale of the old man’s yard brush. The brush that’s had five new heads and two new handles, but he swears it’s the same brush that’s served him well for twenty years. Well, Danú have been delighting us with top-notch Irish tunes and songs for more than twenty years, and in that time there have been numerous personnel changes but, the quality has never varied, and the sound has always been unmistakably Danú. Credit for that overwhelmingly lies with founder member, and button accordionist, Benny McCarthy, who has been a defining influence throughout. In the current set up, alongside him, are long-standing members, Eamonn Doorley on bouzouki, or more precisely, the guitar bodied, bouzouki strung, gazouki, and Oisin McAuley on fiddle and viola, while Ivan Goff on Uileann pipes, flute and whistles is a slightly more recent recruit, a mere 10 years or so, having previously toured extensively with the band. In the last couple of years, longtime vocalist Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh moved on to be replaced by Nell Ní Chróinín who also contributes whistles, and Tony Byrne has become the band’s full-time guitarist.

The ten tracks of Ten Thousand Miles divide evenly into five songs and five tune sets, the album opening with the song, Master McGrath. The 1860’s story of an Irish greyhound’s trip over the Irish Sea to take on England’s best at hare coursing. Straightaway, then, we’re introduced to Nell’s vocals. Lauded for her beautiful interpretations of Irish songs, she’s been a multiple award winner at national competitions; here she gets to show she’s equally adept when delivering a song in English. Her voice skips along through the story, coaxing you into paying careful attention to the lyrics. In contrast, the second song, Ar Maidin Inné Dom, is a far slower piece, allowing more variation of expression, the texture of her voice echoed by Oisin’s fiddle and Ivan’s flute. With Muireann having been such a stalwart component of the Danú sound, it is inevitable that comparisons will be made, but in Nell, the band has found a singer thoroughly up to the task. Her voice is huskier than Muireann’s giving a sturdier sound, but with her roots in sean nós, she provides a vocal line ideally suited to the ornamentation of the fiddle and flute accompaniment of this song and similarly when accordion and pipes are to the fore on Fiach An Mhadra Rua. Two other songs in English give her ample opportunity to deliver emotions that are quintessentially Irish. Ten Thousand Miles is a traditional English song, the band learned it from the singing of Nic Jones, yet it fits easily alongside the canon of Irish emigration songs. The lover may travel ten thousand miles but still promises to return. In contrast, the album closes with Nell giving voice, in equal measure, to righteous anger and sorrow at the events of Easter 1916 with The Foggy Dew.

While the introduction of a new voice inevitably makes a difference to the Danú sound, the tune sets bear all the hallmarks that have been characteristic of Danú line-ups through the years. On this album, slow airs don’t get a look-in, but neither are all the tunes played at a hell for leather pace. Those that do move along, such as the reel set, Cutting a Slide/The Fiddle Cushion, benefit significantly from Tony’s guitar rhythms. There’s also some nifty bodhrán work adding great rhythmic texture, played, on this track, by original band member Donnchadh Gough. The bodhrán credits are shared between him, Amy Richter, US-based she’s become bodhrán player of choice on Danú’s N American tours and Billy Sutton, who wields the tipper on Fiach An Mhadra Rua. Throughout, the bodhrán benefits from being rather more prominent in the mix than is often the case in recordings of traditional Irish tunes. As you’d expect, the melody instruments frequently get solo sections, but these are usually quite short, and the real magic of Danú shines through in their combination playing. There are times when two instruments combine so precisely and sympathetically that it is almost impossible to tell them apart, accordion and fiddle, fiddle and whistle. Only the Uilleann pipes can be relied upon to maintain a unique presence. While there’s no hiding their distinctive contribution, it’s the seamless integration of all the instruments that speak to the quality of the band and their music.

Even though they’re used to playing in major concert venues all over the world, listening to Danú will bring back memories of the very best Irish pub sessions you’ve been fortunate enough to experience. But, for a pub session to sound as good as this, you’d probably have to be in heaven, that’s the magic of Danú.