Album Review: The Whileaways, In All Honesty

The Whileaways are Noelie McDonnell, Noriana Kennedy and Nicola Joyce, each of whom earned solo spurs on the Galway scene a decade back. But together they now offer a nourishing stew, their voices often blending so well you can barely see the join.

There’s an obvious emphasis on melodic folk, married to intelligent lyrics and tasteful instrumentation, which includes some tracks nicely banjoed-up. All songs, for this, their fourth album, are written by band members, sometimes solo, sometimes in tandem.

On the opening track ‘The Milking Parlour Bar’, McDonnell evokes the soft vocal delivery of Christie Hennessy. Nicola Joyce takes the lead vocal on ‘Toss The Bobbin’ to tell of individual female struggles, and ‘In Your Company’ has a Saw Doctors-like charm. ‘West Window’ is Noriana Kennedy’s turn to shine, on a song about a woman with a touch of wanderlust, while the title track is a biographical reflection on rural Ireland in times gone by.

The surface subtlety to the album masks more serious undercurrents, which is becoming The Whileaways’ trademark. Folk on!

8/10