The Peacock's Feathers

Established stars in their native Germany, five-piece Fleadh's last album, 2013's The Cleggan Bay Disaster, was festooned with awards, picking up gongs at the country's Rock & Pop Awards. Follow-up The Peacock's Feathers has already been laden with nominations and sees Fleadh venture into the UK market for the first time. Picking up where its predecessor left off, it's a disc of contrasts: lively traditional instrumentals sitting alongside likeable if doleful original songs by Saoirse Mhór. His appropriately flat-edged, dour singing voice takes a little adjusting to.

Injecting a contemporary twist to traditional Irish idioms – largely inked in by Frank Weber's affecting pipes and whistles and Marcus Eichenlaub's dextrous fiddle – with glancing nods borrowed from elsewhere, it's all pitched at a broader audience, the freeness of the ensemble playing offering a hefty hint to the band's popularity on Germany's thriving live circuit. Frank Dürschner's banjo adds infectious brio throughout (most notably on ‘The Monaghan Twig’) and Tommy Gorny's acoustic, bass and slide guitars lend body and ballast. As Fleadh spread their wings, they’re an outfit to keep an eye on.