Traditional Gaellic album from Julie Fowlis.
A traditional folk artist in the truest sense, Julie Fowlis is a Scottish singer who performs in Gaelic. Thankfully, for the ignorant among us her latest album 'Cuilidh' (translated as "treasury, sanctuary, retreat") is accompanied with a bilingual booklet. To make things easier for both myself and I imagine the majority of readers, I will therefore refer to any song titles or lyrics in English.
Opening track 'Celebrate the Great Bonnet!' has a traditional folk arrangement, complete with a fiddle and a mandolin, and lyrics about bonnets, which gives the song an understandably quaint tone. 'My Brown-Haired Lass' is more of a ballad in style, with Julie's voice soaring amidst lyrics about captivating beauty, being wounded by love and attempting to move on. On 'The Short Apron and the New Apron: Song for Jessie of Balranald' things switch to a more upbeat key again and the simple, elegant percussive instruments lull the listener along.
A partner to 'My Brown-Haired Lass' is fourth track 'Brown-Haired Lad, I'm Fond of You', the first song to open with a piano segment. The most obviously mournful of the songs so far, 'Brown-Haired Lad...' it treads a similar path to its female counterpart, with much low spirits, isolation and pining. 'I'm Fond of Potatoes and Butter/Finlay is Spreading Manure', is as close to a knees up as this type of folk ever gets, with the fiddle being used to maximum effect with some very bizarre lyrics. 'Set of Jigs' is an instrumental piece, with music greatly identical to some of its predecessors, with heavy use of the fiddle once again.
This album generally seems to switch between jigs and laments, making it a bearable listen but far from startling. By about the midway point my interest is waning, as the minutes of this album seem to be crawling by with too little distinction. If you enjoy your folk heavy on tradition then doubtless this will appeal, but for anyone looking for something with more of a spark then it's best to sever the alliance now as the two of you just weren't meant to be.