Ye Vagabonds doesn’t just pack music venues, they also appear to fill up movie theatres to the brim. Excited fans flooded into the Light House Cinema on Tuesday evening to watch the premiere of the Irish folk subling duo’s film Nine Waves, a visual accompaniment to their newest critically acclaimed album of the same name.

The duo – comprised of brothers Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn – collaborated on the film with Tiny Ark, the award-winning video production company. The film was directed by Tiny Ark co-founder and creative director Alex Delap.

The cinematic collaboration showcased each of the 11 tracks on the acclaimed album, interspersing captivating acoustic performances with spellbinding dance numbers throughout the course of the LP.

Ye Vagabonds released Nine Waves as their third album in May 2022 via Rough Trade’s River Lea label, which was produced by John ‘Spud’ Murphy. The brothers opted to produce a film in lieu of making music videos to promote the LP.

In a review of the Nine Waves album, Hot Press’ John Walshe wrote that the brothers deliver their “instantly recognisable style” and signature vocal quality. “It is the brothers’ voices, though, which remain the draw, soaring to magical effect on ‘An Island’ and ‘Go Away And Come Back Hither’”. He added: “Three albums in and the quality control remains as high as ever.”

Before the film started, Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn greeted the sold-out theatre to much applause from the crowd. The brothers expressed immense gratitude to everyone who helped with the project, which they said included filming in Dublin and on Arranmore Island.

“We just grabbed a big bunch of lovely, very talented people and brought them to Arranmore Island and let them loose, and you’ll see how that went,” Diarmuid remarked to much laughter. “For us, it was very joyful.”

The film opened with the instrumental track ‘Tuaim’, which set the film’s tone of captivating melodies and nature-oriented memories. Each scene of the film depicted a different song, often showing Ye Vagabonds and their musical collaborators performing the track in what has been described as a “derelict building in Dublin”. These shots were then interspersed with a dance duet that further told the story of the song with the natural beauty of Arranmore serving as the backdrop.

Ye Vagabonds at the RTE Folk Awards 2022. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

The brotherly duo put their entire bodies into every performance, passionately playing alongside Cormac Begley on concertina, Ryan Hargadon on piano and sax, Alain McFadden on harmonium, and Crash Ensemble’s Kate Ellis on cello and Caimin Gilmore on double bass.

Most of the Arranmore parts showed dancers Stephanie Dufresne and Cristian Emmanuel Dirocie performing impeccable and heartfelt duets for tracks including ‘An Island’, ‘The Humours of Glin’ and ‘Go Away and Come Back Hither’. Their spellbinding movements were masterfully complimented by an assortment of scenic visuals, such as a car drive up a sheep-bearing mountain ('The Humours of Glin'), long-standing buildings and mesmerising greenlands ('Go Away and Come Back Hither'), and an illuminating campfire scene that ended with the sound of precious crackling firewood ('Joyáil').

One highlight from the film was the performance of breakout single 'Blue is the Eye', which was nominated for the 2022 RTÉ Choice Music Prize Song Of The Year. Instead of telling the story of the song through dance, it was told through a day in the life of Arranmore bar owner Jerry Early going out to sea. The majestic and even overwhelming shots of vast sea and sky were thoughtfully coloured by the song's poignant lyrics of a tender love:

Lie down and sleep, sleep well, my darling

Blue is the eye watches over the sea

Lie down and sleep, sleep well, my darling

Blue is the eye that looks after thee 

After the film played its final note, the audience awarded Nine Waves with warm cheers and applause.

Ye Vagabonds are performing two shows at Dublin’s Vicar Street on March 31 and April 1, with support from Niamh Bury. Tickets for the shows are available online here.

Listen to the Nine Waves album below.