An tSLí

Bernard O’Neill has an impressive history. A classically-trained pianist and cellist, he has played double bass for the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Natacha Atlas and Jeff Buckley, but is probably best known to readers for the Syriana project. Now comes the Celtic folk-influenced An tSLí (‘The Way’ in Irish Gaelic), in which he is joined by another fine multi-instrumentalist, Brendan Ring for a concept set, based on the role of the shaman in Irish culture.

Ring is a distinguished uilleann piper, but here he also plays shamanic drums (made by himself), low whistle, and an exact copy of a medieval Irish harp or cláirseach, while O’Neill adds bass, cello, keyboards and occasional synth effects. The line-up also includes Irish flute, fiddle and three singers, including Western classical and Eastern maqam exponent Merit Ariane Stephanos, who sings in Latin on the 14th-century ‘Ductu Angelico’ -now reworked as Celtic electro-folk with fine pipe work matched against a rumble of drone effects. Elsewhere, there’s an evocative drum and pipes work-out on ‘Wildpipes’, and lyrical passages that would make fine, atmospheric film music. It’s a long set that could do with some pruning, but the more repetitive sections probably sound great if you are in a shamanic trance.