FOLK

(Greentrax)

The Irish band’s second release on Greentrax offers a characteristic mix of lively, infectious tunes and wistful songs, the latter courtesy of another new young singer and fiddle player off the Irish production line, Claire-Anne Lynch. They fall just short of the charged intensity of the top echelon of Irish bands, but there is plenty to enjoy in their music, not least Christy Leahy’s sizzling box playing.

Their roots in Cork (and influences from the adjacent Kerry and Sliabh Luachra styles) are well in evidence on sets like ‘Sliabh Luachra Polskas’ or ‘The Humours of Ballydesmond’, while ‘Earl Mitten’s’ veers off into French-Canadian territory, with guest Dirk Powell on clawhammer banjo.