Now & Then (Box Set)

Now here’s a brilliant bumper box set. It contains CDs of 12 Sharon Shannon studio albums, including a brand new set, along with a remastered LP of her 1991 self-titled debut set (supposedly still the best-selling album of traditional music in Irish history), a re-remixed 7” vinyl version of ‘The Galway Girl’, and a 100-page photo-book. It’s a reminder of the extraordinary role she has played in the history of Irish music, both as a multi-instrumentalist and composer, playing accordion, whistles and electric guitar, while matching new arrangements of traditional material with her own tunes, and influences from almost anywhere in the world. There’s everything here from country and Cajun to reggae, tango, Spanish, Chilean, Middle Eastern, Canadian, Portuguese and African styles, along with a dash of hip-hop, while on Flying Circus (2012) she is backed by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Many of the tracks on Now & Then are instrumentals, dominated by Sharon’s glorious accordion work, but she also steps back to provide accompaniment for great singers including Sinéad O’Connor, Kirsty MacColl, Jackson Browne, Steve Earle, John Prine and Shane MacGowan. Every album here is different, but instantly distinctive, and the only (minor) disappointment is the non-inclusion of Sacred Earth (2016), a fine set which annoyingly had to be left out ‘for contractual reasons.’

Sharon’s latest album Now, is (for now) only available on this box set. It’s largely instrumental, dominated by Sharon’s tunes, but with some predictably unexpected tracks. The delightfully silly ‘The Diddley Doo’ shows off her sense of fun in the company of Dublin ‘acoustic rock’ group The Scratch, while the poignant and emotional ‘Séamus’ celebrates the life of West Kerry musician Séamus Begley, and the slinky and gutsy ‘The Zonkeys of Easkey’ matches her accordion, fiddle and whistles against Justin Adams’ electric guitar, bass and percussion. 32 years on from her debut, Shannon can still delight and surprise.