Càirdeas

With guitarist Brian Ó hEadhra hailing from Newfoundland (via Dublin) and NicChoinnich from Scotland’s Isle of Lewis, the duo’s third album together is a celebration of the shared cultures of Scotland, Ireland and Canada as well as their own relationship, with a title that translates as ‘Friendship’ or ‘Kinship’ in Gaelic. Created during the lockdown winter of 2020/21, it’s an intimate-sounding family affair made up, they say, of “traditional and contemporary songs which we grew up with or that mean something special to us.”

The couple’s children, Órla and Ró, contribute vocals on several tracks, while ‘The Pink, The Lily, and the Blooming Rose’ is taken from the singing of Ó hEadhra’s parents. Most of the tracks are sung in Scottish or Irish Gaelic, including a jaunty, translated version of Laura Marling and Johnny Flynn’s ‘The Water’ (here ‘An t-Uisge’), while the musical guests including Innes White on guitar and mandolin, Ewen White on accordion, Anna-Wendy Stevenson and Rosie Munro on fiddle, and Anna Murray on pipes have added their tasteful contributions remotely. Reflective yet ultimately optimistic, this charming album may yet be one of the pandemic’s more palatable outcomes.