Think Before You Think

This album, Danz's second, shows that while their development has been an exciting affair - the music speaks volumes for that - their core beliefs are still strongly rooted in the active tradition. Their local area - Waterford's Diise country - remains the source of inspiration for much of the album's material.

Two things set this album apart from much of the trad output we're familiar with. Firstly, the number of original tunes - six at the last count - which sit alongside pieces of more traditional provenance is a welcome development and one that is being pursued elsewhere, by Cran, Kmla, etc with increasing regularity. In the second instance, the band's choice of songs is quite inspired, with 'Eochaill', from the source singing of Anne Mulqueen, being the album standout. Ciaran S Gealbhain, the band's vocalist is possessed of a clear, bell-like voice which inclines towards a light register, and the material, unadorned as it is by unison or harmony, allows this most distinctive of singers to leave a very individual resonance on the album.

What is evident here is that Danz are a band who are still in development, but the blueprint - aided and abetted by some fine production from Joe McKenna and Garry O'Briain - is an indication that a very strong edifice is in the course of construction. Live - I've seen them several times - they're an awesome prospect, and Think Before You Think goes much of the way towards realising their potential as a recording unit. Like good wine, this is an album to savour, and repeatedly.