Kila are one of the few trad bands with the breadth of vision to look beyond the Irish tradition for musical connections. But on his first solo album, albeit aided by the odd Kíla cohort, Colm O Snodaigh goes for the soft-folk prize and eschews the African and Middle Eastern rhythms Kíla have adopted as their own.
Nina Hynes’ backing vocals add depth and appeal to the Cohenesque ‘Leochaileach Aris’. The fragile ‘Fos Liom Fein’ has delicate fiddle from Dee Armstrong, and Colm Mac Con Iomaire does a similar job on ‘We’ve Changed’. O Snodaigh draws subtle vocal performances from the likes of Fiachna O Braonáin and Maria Doyle Kennedy, but those who’ve missed Lisa Hannigan’s enchanting tones since she split with Damien Rice will be especially glad of her contributions to ‘Uaireannta’ and the excellent ‘Rol On-Roll On’ (although her appearance on ‘Giving’ might need dogs weaned on the run-off groove on Sgt. Peppers... to detect it!). Richie Buckley adds evocative sax to ‘Sweet Child’, on which Liam O Maonlai also contributes excellent piano work.
Not that O Snodaigh is swamped in such company. He has a rich and compelling voice that’s both soft and warm, and his songs exude a confidence and an intelligence that go way beyond the empty platitudes and three-chord trickery of yer standard Irish songsmithery. In terms of balance, we could have done with a shifting upward of the gears a few more times – but overall this is excellent stuff.