Calan
Album: Jonah
Label: Sain
Tracks: 14
Website: http://www.calan-band.com

There seems to be a lot of good music coming out of Wales at the moment. I know, I'm sure there always has been, but I'm starting to become really aware of it. It also seems to be happening right across the acoustic spectrum from the more contemporary sounds of the likes of Rusty Shackle, through the blues/rockabilly of Cherry Lee Mewis, national language bands like Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog as well as more traditional focused acts. Calan fall into both of the latter categories.

My first encounter with Calan, a five piece mainly playing traditional instruments, was at Cambridge Folk Festival, the band having made the long journey to play as one of the opening acts on the Thursday night a couple of years back. The band played a combination of instrumentals as well as Welsh and English language songs and did it very well.

At the time they had just released their debut album, under the stewardship of Maartin Allcock and were in the process of supporting the album with a few dates. They were also the first band I can ever recall seeing play the pibgorn, a traditional Welsh woodwind instrument seeing as you asked.

"Jonah" is the follow up and pretty much builds on its predecessor, which is no bad thing. If anything it feels like a more relaxed album as the band seems to have grown together. "Dawns Y Pelau (Dawns Y Pelau/Welsh Processional Morris)" for example really captures the spirit of the tune, for example, by including the sounds of the dancers into the piece.

I'll hold my hand up and admit I can barely understand a word of Welsh, but can't help being moved by the emotional foibles of the language, particularly when it's sung as sweetly and clearly as it is here.

Clarity is actually a good word to apply to the whole album. Songs and tunes seem to find space to express the individual instruments as well as in combination and to do it in such a way that you don't feel you're listening to an attempt to reconstruct "Peter And The Wolf" only using traditional instruments.

Once again Calan have selected and written their tunes well. "Jonah" is a strong an vibrant album, well performed by the whole of the quintet, but I do feel I need to make special mention of the Celtic harp playing of the Jones sisters and the vocal dexterity of Bethan Rhiannon, whose contributions help put the icing on an already rich cake.

There is such a blend of pace and sound across the album, heck, sometimes across an individual song, that you can't help be both impressed and entertained by Calan and "Johah".

Neil King