Sung in both Irish and English, Gormacha delves into Ireland’s natural beauty and cultural heritage
FIDDLE and viola player Clare Sands new E.P. Gormacha is a widescreen, musically rich, enchanting contemplation of the four most extreme geographical points in Ireland - Mizen, Malin, Dunmore and Wicklow headlands. She explores the connections between the rocky coastline, the powerful seas, Irish folklore and loss of natural habitat.
Sung in a combination of Irish and English, the four tracks, respectively feature collaborations with four top Irish musicians. Gormacha – meaning blue (strikingly represented in Kasia Kaminska’s blue sea, sky and coastline cover image) - can be seen as a companion to Clare’s similarly collaborative 2022 EP Tírdhreacha agus Fuaimdhreacha, which uncovered landscapes and soundscapes through the seasons across Ireland – both projects have accompanying videos.
A slow haunting fiddle motif opens Teasgal, before Clare’s fellow Cork resident I Have a Tribe (Patrick O’Laoghaire) chants as much as sings the first lines – the song is sung in Irish – with an intermittent simple piano chord underneath. Mizen Head in Cork provides the inspiration for the song, the sound of the wind and waves a leitmotif throughout. They sing in unison as the song eddy’s and builds, the fiddle becoming more urgent, perfectly communicating the meaning of the song’s title - a singing wind in a storm. The tumult drifts away on a metronomic single piano note, flickering fiddle, and a return to Patrick’s solo intoning. There’s an allusion to the need to protect the ocean and a sense of calm and endurance after the storm, celebrating the space, as the sleeve notes put it, ‘between the devil and the deep blue sea.’
Armagh’s Brian Finnegan plays flute and whistle, at times swirling and wind like, on the buoyant Dealán Dé, Malin Head in Donegal, the most northerly point in Ireland, the geographical locus this time. Clare’s upbeat vocal, very well supported by the Inishowen Gospel Choir, sung like the rest of the songs in a mix of Irish and English, brims with optimism and urgency, again capturing the sense of the song’s title - an ancient word from County Donegal meaning both butterfly and Northern lights.
Ghost on the Waves sees Aisling Urwin playing harp alongside Clare’s poignant fiddle melody, the two singing in rich harmony. The song, about love and landscape, was inspired by Dunmore Head in West Kerry, by tunes such as Port na bPúcaí and tales like the mythological Pursuit of Gráinne and Diarmuid. The chorus – ‘Maireann an lá go ruaig, maireann an grá go huaigh’ – meaning ‘a day lasts until it’s chased away, but love lasts until the grave’ - conveys a strong feeling of hope and perseverance.
The most easterly point in Ireland, Wicklow Head, provides the setting for the final, anthemic song, Crónán na Sruthán – meaning the croon of the stream. Compelling electric guitar from Niamh Regan and shared rousing vocals combining with Clare’s spacious fiddle tune on a song lamenting forbidden love and the loss of native woodlands.
The songs on Gormacha are personal, combine ancient and new, but are also about love and highlight key issues about the neglect of natural places; the music is nothing less than gripping.
Available from: www.claresands.bandcamp.com/album/gormacha
