Album Review: Beoga, Phases

Whether they’re giving Dave Grohl a bodhrán lesson or collaborating with Ed Sheeran on ‘Galway Girl’, Beoga are well-known for bringing Irish trad to the masses with their genre-defiant craft. On their latest album, Phases, the Irish outfit continue their line of sonic populism, following up a four-year hiatus with 10 impressive tracks.

Take ‘Anne Bonny’ as a case in point. The lush pop hooks and rousing drum flourishes slide effortlessly between the out-and-out trad verses. Then you have ‘Tradfather’, which boasts a song structure that mirrors EDM stompers, the fiddle breakdowns quickening at every turn. ‘Phases’ draws the most beautiful hues from Beoga’s modern folk palette, equal parts catharsis and ebullience.

Boasting a drive-with-the-windows-down splendour, the surf-rock of ‘Shore Road Punk’ could soundtrack the end credits of an indie coming-of-age film. On closer ‘Old Fashioned Waltz’, the band return to the bone-simple basics, with Niamh Dunne’s voice braiding gorgeous plaits around the sparsely-strummed, lightly-percussive backing.

On Phases, Beoga continue to wonderfully expand the vocabulary of Irish music.

7/10