Review | Songlines

Cançons a l’Ombra

Rating: ★★★

View album and artist details

Album and Artist Details

Artist/band:

La Baula

Label:

Segell Microscopi

June/2025

La Baula are a new Catalan group committed to collecting and spreading the traditional songs from their region. The title for their debut album, Cançons a l’Ombra (Songs in the Shadow), tells us immediately what they have been up to – unearthing little-known songs from Catalonia. Picking up these 13 tunes from various historical songbooks, they have arranged them with the specific intent of presenting this repertoire to a wider audience. And there is much to praise in La Baula’s work: the vocal arrangements, their uncomplicated take on beautiful melodies, a quite straightforward respect for their material. It works beautifully on ‘La Llàntia de Felip Quint’ and ‘La Flor Blava’, and when they shake things up, as on the lively and feisty ‘La Veu del Cor’, ‘El Cornut’ and ‘El Fill del Rei’, it’s even better. However, these highs also reveal the lower points, the moments when La Baula give the past far too much reverence. When they free themselves from that excessive respect they do take off. In the future, they would benefit from handling tradition with far less caution.

Subscribe from only £7.50

Start your journey and discover the very best music from around the world.

Subscribe

View the Current
Issue

Take a peek inside the latest issue of Songlines magazine.

Find out more