Altan – Donegal (Vinyl)

Thirty-five years in, Altan remain the standard-bearers for Donegal's musical tradition, and their fourteenth album is a homecoming in every sense. Their first new material since 2018's The Gap of Dreams, it was recorded between Manus Lunny's Stiúideo na Mara in Ceann Caslach and Attica Studios up in the Donegal mountains, and pays homage to the county's music, landscape and culture across ten tracks of Irish-language song and dynamic twin fiddling.

Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh is in fine voice throughout, from the soldier's lament Liostáil mé le Sáirsint to The Barley and the Rye, while newest member Clare Friel makes her recorded debut with the band, sharing vocals on a gorgeous setting of Máirtín Ó Direáin's poem Faoiseamh a Gheobhadsa and adding fire to the fiddle section. With Martin Tourish, Dáithí Sproule, Mark Kelly and Ciarán Curran completing the line-up, and guests including Steve Cooney, it is the sound of a great band drawing from the deepest well they know. Limited edition black vinyl.