Allt

This feels like something of a Gaelic supergroup album. It brings together two power couples – Hebridean singer and whistles player Julie Fowlis, her husband, bouzouki player Éamon Doorley, Irish fiddler Zoë Conway and her husband, guitarist John Mc Intyre.

Dealing as it does with the Gaelic language, the focus is on the fringes of both Ireland and Scotland, where the language has lived on. This is reflected in poetry from Aran Island poet Máirtín Ó Direáin, 19th-century Gaelic champion Nioclás Ó Cearnaigh, North Uist World War I poet Donald MacDonald and the opening St Kilda dance song ‘Port Dannsaidh Hiortach / Deóra Dé’. A burning passion for the language and culture is felt throughout, both in the poetry and the emotion of the musicians. The project is a strong statement of identity. The sung poetry is pure and clear and the tune playing is at times so soaring and symbiotic that you can sense the intimacy of the relationships. This is a proud and heartfelt creation.