The front cover of the CD shows the band, cloaked and hooded, standing solemnly on a bleak hilltop, strongly suggestive that they've returned to their spooky old roots!
Lead singer Maire Brennan has one of the most pure glorious Celtic voices I've ever heard, which she puts into immediate and awesome effect on "Na Laethe Bhi", the opening track of what, at first, sounds a typically uncompromising album. The band entwine their cold, ghostly harmonies, and a huge piercing whistle suddenly glides, mighty, alongside Maire's powerful icy vocals. Entirely devoid of beat or rhythm, this is a genuine Celtic experience if ever I heard one!
"Banba Oir" introduces an elusive, enticing rhythm. Melody and soft vocals merge together in a strange haunting incantation. It's a thoughtful and chilling dance; you can imagine leprechauns and other preternatural beings dancing round an enchanted green fire. ( In fact, come to think of it, this is great inspiring music to write stories to! Ideal atmospheric backdrop...)
The enchantment fades somewhat now, and the album become far more toned down and earthly. No more wonderful Gaelic chants for a while. "There For You" (rather dully) explores the ups and downs of a human relationship. The soft drum machine and piping sax don't really evoke much sense of drama.
"Mystery Game" quietly describes a spirit of adventure and longing. It has a slow tick-tock beat and brings with it a disappointing sense, after the first couple of blinders, that things have come off the boil a bit. Lyrically, too, it seems leaden and uninspired.
The next track "Struggle" raises the game slightly - the band's optimism shines through in a floating ode about shooting and falling stars, setting the brightness of otherworldy objects against the mundane. Maire's voice rises and falls with a dramatic guitar, but I'm left unsatisfied. Her beautiful vocals seem more suited to Celtic purity than quasi-pop.
"I Will Find You" restores the mystery and menace of the earliest tracks on the album. It begins with a low growling chord and clicking triffids! Maire's voice is cold and comfortless, angry and unearthly. The whole thing is put over powerfully as an ancient blood-oath of vengeance, with a scary Gaelic chorus and low throbbing drumbeats added to grim effect. "Wherever you are, I will find you, if it takes a thousand years." Woooh, don't go to bed just after this...
Slipping down a gear again, "Soul Searcher" falls into the realms of a pleasant ballad, this time lead by male vocalist Cieran Brennan. Nice, lilting guitars, but doesn't rise to greatness and dwindles a little too easily into background music.
The next, "Ca De Sin Do'n Te Sin" (spelling?) is a full-on Celtic folkish belter. Its effortless simplicity led to me having a tap at my own keyboard along with the music. Entirely unsurprised to learn that it is in a minor key! Again, it's entirely sung in haunting Gaelic, and has the cadence of ominous poetry. Sunk in a brooding gloom, it seems to conjure up images of old-fashioned stagecoaches trundling across a a foggy moor, lanterns and mysterious beings moving through the mist. Well, that's my mental picture anyway!
"The Other Side" is another optimistic, but far more worldly, effort about looking for your life and dreams. Oh dear, it's nice, but sounds a bit trite! It thrums and runs successfully enough, but merges unmemorably into the sameness of some of the other weaker tracks.
Floating, shimmering guitar waltz "Sunset Dreams" puts me in mind of a soundtrack to a fantasy film or fairy tale. Great stuff for drifting off into a world of one's own. (Nothing wrong with that!)
The finale, in true Clannad tradition, is entirely without vocals. Flutes, hovering synths and a softly-plucked mandolin unite in the dreamy but slightly over-long ballad "A Gentle Place". Close your eyes, and your own gentle place could be wherever you wanted it to be.
In all, the album "Banba" is not flawless. There are times when I'm slightly put off by the corniness of the lryics; notwithstanding the kind finale, there's a tenacious cold feeling almost throughout the whole thing - for the most part. Don't expect to be comforted or soothed. This, on the other hand, could equally be seen as a strength. It really is capable of taking the imagination to all sorts of new places. As an introduction to Clannad, it's probably not ideal - better to buy their Greatest Hits collection "Past Present". For someone really into the band, or perhaps looking to get rather spooked out, maybe give this a try!
I first listened to this album at a friend's house, and it won me over, though not without a few reservations. After that, I easily picked up my copy on an Internet auction site - I'm sure you know where to go! I've never regretted it, even if only for the four wonders I've mentioned above.
So:
Chilled? Not exactly; it's too intense for that.
Lyrically sublime? Well, no, not always.
Mysterious, folkish and magical? Oh yes, at its best, it definitely fits that description!
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