Altan
Album: Altan-Gleann Nimhe - The Poison Glen
Label: Compass
Tracks: 13
Website: www.altan.ie

There comes a time in a band's career where a stock take is called for, and Altan have been gently pushing the boundaries of Irish music for more than a quarter of a century, integrating the root sound of Donegal fiddle playing with bolder melodic and rhythmic twists, to say nothing of their willingness to embrace new material. This album is a return to the style of their earlier recordings where the interplay between fiddle and flute defined the music as local. I have to say that I've been a fan since the off, and that ,while The Poison Glen is a different album to much of their recent output, it's no less impressive for that.

The overall sound sees the band in more relaxed mode, the full frontal sound of yore less in evidence, and things like the insinuations of Jim Higgins' percussion and Harry Bradley's flute giving proceedings a gentle nudge, as they weave in and out of the mix. It's a personal choice I know, but for me the songs are absolute standouts this time round. Mairead has rarely sounded better and her work on Seolta Geala, translated by her late father, is of the first water, as is her reading of An Ghealog. That's not to in any way downgrade the impact of the tunes, old standards-The Wheels of The World-sitting comfortably alongside the album's closing track The House on The Corner, which needs a couple of listens before all of it's nuances reveal themselves.

Gleann Nimhe is an album of thoughtful beauty, which grows stronger at every turn and one that I will often return to over the coming months, copperfastening as it does Altan's primacy in the pantheon of tradional music. Wonderful ,wonderful music.

Oliver P. Sweeney