Volume II

The Armagh Rhymers have been fusing ancient and modern, the mundane and the magical, legend and the life lived since the 1970s. Inspired by the timeless tradition of mumming – ‘the theatre of the people,’ clothed in colourful motley and oversized masks fashioned from flax, willow and straw, they blend traditional songs, folklore and poetry with theatre to collapse time and make the old new again. Thirty years after their first recording comes Volume II. Cast in the guise of a mummers’ play it sounds part-opera, part-folktale, part-campfire seisiún.

Devised by founder Dara Vallely, who provides characterful voice and concertina, multi-instrumentalist Barry Lynch produces and co-arranges with keyboardist Johnny McGuinness. Invoking Ireland’s national saints, mythic pagan heroes and an ancient connection to the natural world, the contemporary boldly intrudes with COVID-19 personified with pantomime-like menace – ‘none of youse who stand a chance/all will learn my merry dance.’ Think of it as a concept album and you’re half-way there. A playful, potent blend of deftly re-worked traditional tunes and poetry by Seamus Heaney, John Hewitt and others comes to life with a nimble instrumental accompaniment featuring telling contributions from fiddle, bodhrán, bouzouki, uilleann pipes and low whistle. Brilliantly conjuring the timeless, it manages to be pertinently topical. The limited-edition double vinyl includes six tracks re-mastered from Volume I.