07-08-2025
On The Record — some of the new releases in Ireland this month
IF THERE is any band more pivotal in the development of Celtic rock than Horslips, then history has yet to discover them.
Legacy being what it is, the past few years have witnessed many of the band's recordings repackaged (notably, 2022's mammoth, appropriately titled 35-disc set, More Than You Can Chew), but At the BBC (Madfish) takes a nice detour with four CDs and one DVD that unearth the band's time spent in the hallowed halls of the BBC. While the DVD highlights the musicians' esoteric choice of clothing as worn on the BBC's music show, Old Grey Whistle Test (in fairness, it was the early-mid'70s), the music once again marks them out as, perhaps, unwitting pioneers, but pioneers, nonetheless. From the riffs of Dearg Doom to the orchestral remake of The Book of Invasions, we doff the proverbial cap to them.
SIMILARLY, we look admiringly towards Ólafar Arnalds & Talos and their collaborative album, A Dawning (Opia Community and Mercury KX). There is, however, a sting in the tale, in that Reykjavik-based musician Arnalds had to complete the album when Clonakilty's Eoin French (who, under the stage name Talos, had released three albums of fastidiously constructed dreamy, ambient music) died in 2024 at the age of 36. A significant portion of the album was written and recorded in West Cork before French was diagnosed with cancer, so there's little or nothing to read into the mostly melancholic vibe that weaves its way throughout. That said, if the listener doesn't shed a tear or three at some point (particularly during the closing track, We Didn't Know We Were Ready), then we don't know what to think.
GRIEF also gets a look-in on the Various Artists album, My Grief on the Sea (Bring Your Own Hammer/BYOH), but not often in a way you might think – despair could be a better description. There's an intriguing concept to the record and the record label; the label aims to bring together Irish songwriters and historians to produce new song cycles that are rooted in the history of 19th-century Ireland and the Irish diaspora. The album is the first in a projected series of collaborations, with the inaugural compilation based on songs about the sea, sea passages, and migration to and from Ireland during the 1800s. From concept to outcome, it's not only worthwhile but often inspiring. The Irish singers and songwriters are what you might term niche (they include Arian Crowley, Linda Buckley, Cathal Coughlan, Mike Smalle, Eileen Gogan, Carol Keogh, Brigid Mae Power, and second-generation Irish musician, Michael J. Sheehy), but there isn't one song here that wouldn't sound out of place on daytime radio.
THERE is little you could call niche on the debut album by Magherafelt singer-songwriter, JC Stewart. Arriving eleven years after the release of his debut single (Gold), the measure of what we hear on Space Hurts (Stanley Park Records) is the kind of material that could go stratospheric. Not that he isn't almost there: to date, Stewart's songs have amassed over 200 million plays on Spotify (this doesn't include co-writes with superstar songwriters Lewis Capaldi and Niall Horan). Space Hurts, meanwhile, is crammed with songs that can't be anything other than major hits – not just on old-fashioned radio stations but also on any streaming platform you care to mention. The downside? The songs are, inevitably, a tad over familiar, but the collective melody lines are so forceful you have no choice but to hum along to them.
SOME songwriters don't have their careers mapped out for them in the way others do. Rostrevor's Matt Benson is a case in point. A career session musician, Benson's touring gig as the band trombonist and backing vocalist with UK singer George Ezra provided enough spare cash to make reality something he had been meaning to do for many years: record a debut album. Sit Back Down Again (Self-Released/Matthew Benson) is the result, and it's a fine record highlighting what can occur when life hands you a helping hand. The vibe throughout is mature: think John Martyn, Van Morrison, Randy Newman, Little Feat, The Band, and a few others, but mostly the vibe is Benson's own. Well worth your time and attention? Yep.
See More: Celtic Rock, Irish Music, Rock Music
