Moya Brennan has made an impression on ravers and new agers, on keepers of the tradition plus fans of the human voice, being exceptional. The Clannad days are over but Moya is here with familiar songs and new ideas, with daughter Aisling, son Paul and harpist Cormac de Barra. It’s the first night of Tradfest 2024 and a chance to witness a trail that’s been meaningful for over 50 years.
Moya Brennan, The Empire, 2024. By Stuart Bailie
The Empire is a former church and you’re reminded that Moya, like Sinéad and Dolores, has found part of her style in the Irish liturgy, in Gregorian chants and the reverb of old churches and tall ceilings.
So, the songs are raised into this Sunday evening, starting with ‘Tar Liom Siar’ and an invitation to the Irish west. ‘Nuar a Bhí Og’ is the first chance to reference absent friends – namely Clannad uncles Pádraig and Noel. She carries her farewells across ‘River of Songs’ and a remembrance of her late father Leo. She recalls the Children of Lir and their epic grief with ‘Song of Fionnula’.
Moya Brennan, The Empire, 2024. By Stuart Bailie
That’s quite a deal of morbidity, but Moya has the entrancing manner that brings you along. The lines are spare and the notes hang in the aether. ‘In a Lifetime’ is a reward for the Clannad fans and Aisling sings the Bono parts with tremendous poise. Likewise, ‘I Will Find You’ is a reminder of the big soundtrack moments of another time, back to The Last of the Mohicans.
The new album celebrates Mary O’Hara, a popular harpist who was rarely given her critical dues. Moya makes the case with ‘Spinning Wheel’ and ‘Aililiú na Gamhna’. You often forget that tonight’s singer is living with pulmonary fibrosis, that her lung capacity is reduced and yet the vocal presence is quietly, magnificently here.
Moya Brennan, The Empire, 2024. By Stuart Bailie
She leaves us with ‘Two Sisters’, another ancient tune from the Clannad repertoire, a murder ballad about a singing harp and a dark betrayal. Tonight, it’s a singalong and a chance for hearts to be glad. We’ve attended a great one.
Stuart Bailie
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