Since most trad acts are essentially covers bands regurgitating note-for-note copies of tunes they’ve been spoonfed by somebody else, we must be thankful for outfits like Kila, Danu, Altan and Solas who invest new zest into an often clichéd genre. Thus, Waiting For An Echo is a challenging mix of old tunes and new, instrumentals and songs, fast and slow, happy and sad, tight and easeful, with a pot-pourri of influences. ‘The Ploughman’ gets into Kila territory with its fiery tribal rhythms and great vocals. The plaintive and slightly Beatles-ish ‘Erin’, composed by Antje Duvekot, has the wistfulness of a Pierce Turner song. The bunch of reels that open the album boasts the smooth rhythmic pulse and unrestrained vitality that has become Solas’ trademark. You get more of that on the turbo-charged version of Casey Neill’s ‘Lowground’ which also gleams with attractive harmonies. ‘Doireann’s Waltz’ is a deliciously languid experience distinguished by Mick McAuley’s emotive accordion, and ‘The Coconut Dew’ features some hot guitar playing. Elsewhere, the haunting ‘The Night Visit’ features excellent male-female harmonies, an asset the group should exploit more, since ‘The Silver Dagger’ and ‘On The Sea Of Fleur de Lis’ deserve better than the bloodless solo vocal treatments they get.
There is increasing talk of Irish trad going through a slough of despond, but it’s only true if you don’t know where to look. Solas know how to make the music fresh and relevant, not least on account of Seamus Egan’s robust dexterity on a shopful of instruments.