Buile

The brainchild of LA-based indie artist Alys Hoy (aka Roehind), Buile fuses Celtic traditional songs from across Europe with downtempo electronics. Burnt out from a career as a graphic artist and illustrator, Hoy found new avenues for creative expression by teaching herself music production during the pandemic. That Hoy is self-taught is in itself deeply impressive. More impressive still, is that she sings in the language of the music she covers, her clear, clean vocals wrapping themselves around Irish, Scottish, Welsh and French. ‘Cumha Sheathain’ brings reverb-laced vocals and syncopated beats to a 14th-century lament for a dead prince, while ‘Abu Chuibhl’’ adds the shimmer of synths to a traditional Lewis spinning song.

Hoy’s music is precise, professional and technically impressive. There are moments of real beauty, such as the chamber-pop inflected ‘Amhrán Na Farraige’ and acoustic closing track ‘Tiocfaidh An Samhradh’. However, the high sheen of Hoy’s production and delivery has the effect of smoothing out the nuance of these styles and the record as a whole comes out sounding somewhat underwhelming and homogenised.