An Dà Là – The Two Days

After three years of near-constant touring, this six-piece band’s third album finds Ewen Henderson taking over lead vocals from now-departed Norrie McIver, with newest member Craig Irving, from award-winning trio Talisk joining on guitar and vocals. Although there’s certainly no lack of their characteristic humour, spirit and fire in the crowd-pleasing blend of influences drawn from the Scottish and Gaelic traditions, change is a theme that permeates the album. A literal translation of Henderson’s title-track may be ‘The Two Days’ but ‘An Dà Là’ is commonly a Gaelic expression meaning ‘Great Change,’ and the track becomes a bilingual exploration of both the internal changes in the band and some of the tumultuous ones occurring in the wider world.

As with their eponymous 2011 debut and The Test from 2013, traditional song continues to play an important role, but the band are clearly unafraid to embrace an ever-widening range of influences. ‘Alone’ is a version of Ben Harper’s ‘I Shall Not Walk Alone’, although they are not quite so eclectic, or foolhardy, to attempt a Kraftwerk cover: the ‘Autobahn’ featured here is actually a tune they composed while hurtling along the German motorways.