24/06/2012

Bann

Braebach

Big line up changes for Breabach over the past year, with the departure of the talented Patsy Reid and Donal Brown, yet they have come back in fine fettle with two new members, Megan Henderson on fiddle and James Mackenzie on pipes and flute. The trademark twin pipes are still there and the band got this album out surprisingly quickly after all of the changes.

There is an amazing spread of sources for the songs and tunes on the album, Strathspey and reel are arranged with the trademark Breabach touch, particularly in the great  Donald's Rant.

Megan's best songs are in Gaelic, Mogaisean and M'eudail M'eudail are both particularly touching. The inclusion of a cover of Karine Polwart's 'Rivers Run' doesn't add a whole lot to the album however.

There is a lot of competition in this field, with the amazing debut by Mànran, KAN and even the continued prowess of the Peatbog Faeries the bar is continually rising. Bann does struggle to hold the listeners ear in it's quieter moments, maybe more could be made of the Braebach trademark twin pipes. It will inevitably take time for them to redefine themselves as a band, yet  Bann is an important step on that journey.

Iain Hazlewood

http://breabach.com/

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