Land of My Other

Land of My Other is the third studio album from The Breath, a partnership between singer Ríoghnach Connolly and ex-Cinematic Orchestra guitarist Stuart McCallum, a meeting of sensibilities and talents that raise this duo to the front rank. Across the album, they meld so closely, the tone of Connolly’s vocals and McCallum’s guitars at times sound as if they branch from the same trunk and root. “We work like two halves of a single songwriter,” McCallum has said of their partnership. “Imagine a guitarist and a singer who are not separate but are separate people. We just have this really special connection that lets us listen, adapt and evolve a piece of music together.”

Then imagine The Gloaming’s Thomas Bartlett, not only as producer but also contributing piano to the sessions, sitting quietly at his keyboard “locating the energy and helping to focus” and joining in when it feels right. The title-track stands out on an album packed with memorable tracks, with lore and lyricism, tales and travails, passion and solace, intimacy and the epic – the delicate acoustic airs of ‘Cliona’s Wave’ is another, or the doomy, echo-drenched chiaroscuro of the Gothic ‘Head Down’. You’ll want to play this one on repeat.