Sandwiched between the deaths of Irish icons Sinéad O’Connor and Shane MacGowan, the earthy and ethereal Dublin outfit Lankum lit up an atmospheric Edinburgh venue with bewitching, beguiling folk soundscapes. Their songs (revolving around death and despair in often claustrophobic and utterly miserable settings both on land and at sea) have no right to be uplifting. Yet the sheer effervescence and captivating joy found in this band’s playing and singing belie the calamitous happenings they make music about.

Gothic but not goth, rollicking without feeling rocky, the band are in a chipper mood having put their days of being passed over long behind them; cult status has been assured and acclaim from critics (The Guardian awarded them the number one album slot for 2023’s False Lankum) and judges (a welcome Mercury nomination arrived for the same record) is now commonplace.

Most of the in-between song chatter comes from the Lynch brothers, Ian and Daragh, as they joust with one another in a manner becoming of close siblings, while chief vocalist Radie Peat smiles sagely and shakes her head, having no doubt heard all this cheery banter a thousand times before. Against the odds, the whole thing climaxes with a lengthy and (in comparison to much of the doomgloomery that has come before it) upbeat closer in the form of ‘Bear Creek’ from their 2019 album, The Livelong Day. Some dancing even breaks out just to the side of the aisles for a carouseling tune and raucous beat that fittingly lives long in all our memories. 

Lankum are on tour throughout 2024; reviewed at Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh.