Storytelling, poetry, music. Strands of the invisible thread connecting indigenous societies around the world. No matter how far apart in space and time, ancient cultures transmit the community’s spirit and ancestral history through these arts. And so it comes as no surprise that Kíla – conscious exponents of the living tradition of Irish music and language – have hooked up to produce an album with Oki, a musician descended from the Ainu, an indigenous people from Japan.
The blend, called simply Kíla & Oki, finds Kíla at their mellowest, the better to showcase Oki’s beautiful voice and playing of the ‘tonkori’, a traditional Ainu string instrument. ‘Topattumi’, the opening track, is a spoken word piece in the Ainu language, telling listeners of the Ainu ancestors whose memory still abides despite suppression. Kíla’s rich and colourful tapestry of instruments, percussion and vocals forms an exquisite setting for this and the other Ainu-led tracks, like ‘Kai Kai As To’, with its low whistle a trilling bird-call, and the beautiful lullaby, ‘Ororo Raha (Makoro Mokoro)’, whose somniferous lyrics translate: “Sleep comes from where the cradle of the gods, and the breast of the gods, and the breast milk of the gods, descend together.”
It’s instructive how smoothly the Irish and the Ainu yield to each other here, taking turns to assume the foreground, and sometimes juxtaposing with the perfect mix of empathy and drama during one song. While the overall feel of the album is warm rather than fiery, Rónán Ó Snodaigh’s classically stomping ‘Ní Liom Féin’ is just one of several tracks that up the ante, reminding us that dance is never far away in the land of Kíla.
Altogether a sumptuous, lilting and uplifting experience, one that’ll bliss-out fans of this ever-evolving, extraordinarily talented and brilliantly adventurous band.