Previously, discussions about Irish folk music were commonly tangled in debates about the categorisation of musicians and their music as conventional or original. It’s pleasing to know we’ve advanced from this psychotomimetic perception.
Folk tunes were a wider congregation. And now, occupying the scene, the Belfast’s Córas Trio is augmenting these boundaries further with their self-titled first album. They describe their work as a collection of leading-edge folk compositions. The three-piece band, with Kevin McCullagh on the fiddle and electronics, Paddy McKeown plucking the guitar and handling electronics, and Conor McAuley drumming, constructs an energetic maelstrom which hums and illuminates with an enticing dynamism. They trail a unique journey from the early American recordings by Michael Coleman, the Sligo fiddler, through the jazz-inclined Tommie Potts to the disassembling of popular tunes by Martin Hayes and, subsequently, the tunes’ exploration by Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh.
The album also boasts some pronounced jazz-infused embellishments, but it’s notable that some compositions are muffled by the dominating presence of the drums which overpower the more sophisticated nuances on the guitar and fiddle.
Despite this, the salutation to Tommy Peoples in the second track is palpable, and the opening track, Jackie Fitzpatrick’s, with its audacious and investigative nature provides an enticing hook that sets the stage for the subsequent exciting obstacles. The formidable abilities of the Córas Trio are clearly demonstrated in their selection of Julia Delany’s and The Heights of Muingvuara as inspirations, although both have been entirely reimagined, shattering normal time-space boundaries and carving their own erratic path to a gratifying ending. Their breakdown of The Boys of Ballisodare, which rounds off the album, is a final affirmation of their intention: to courageously venture out to places only a few could dare to envision.
The album is a daring and confident compilation that ushers in another refreshing twist in the realm of folk and traditional music.