Autumn Winds

It doesn’t take long to get sucked into the subtle beauty of Irish singer and song collector Niall Hanna's debut solo album. The first gentle touches of acoustic guitar, concertina and fiddle, along with his clear and pleasant voice (reminiscent of Kris Drever in parts) light up the opener and title-track. It has a lovely narrative, and is one of only two originals on this set; the other, ‘Sweet Lough Neagh’, sits happily with the old trad songs and helps create an album of real cohesion.

Elsewhere, spare arrangements respect traditional tragedy in ‘Lough Erne Shore’ and sibling Ciaran's undulating whistles lift the hunting song ‘The Granemore Hare’ to take you outside onto the hills. This is a wonderfully assured effort that handles its mainly traditional Ulster source material with delicacy and pathos. The guitar playing throughout is restrained and soft (the nylon-strung instrument, with less attack than steel, is appropriate here), and the handful of musicians on hand to add strings and percussion to the tales do so with deft respect. Hanna's voice is also a joy, needing no accompaniment on tracks like the emigration-themed ‘Erin's Lovely Home’ to create a confident song of warm sadness. He is clearly an artist of real talent.