For his first solo album, 2008’s The Hare’s Corner, The Frames’ fiddler supreme Colm Mac Con Iomaire undertook pretty much everything himself. For its follow-up, he’s roped in a veritable orchestra of talent to help him flesh out these 10 beautiful compositions. The players read like a who’s who of Irish music, and include Liam O Maonlaí on piano, Colm Querney on electric guitar, Colm O Snodaigh on flute, Bill Blackmore on flugelhorn and trumpet, Carol Keogh on vocals and former Frames sticksmiths Dave Hingerty and Graham Hopkins on drums.
Opener ‘The Finnish Line / An Líne Fhionlannach’ is a lovely, lilting piece, Colm’s fiddle skating along with a deftness of touch that allows the song plenty of space to breathe. ‘A Study In Scarlet / Staidéar Dearg’ is more reflective, but again the fiddler’s bow flits across the strings with barely a breath, while it’s almost impossible to listen to the heartbreaking ‘The White Boat – Liam O’Reilly / An Bád Bán – Liam Ó Raghallaigh’ without being moved.
Like fellow fiddler Caoimhín O Raghallaigh, Mac Con Iomaire is a master of trad, without being in thrall to it. Many of these original compositions tip their cap to tradition, before swooping off in all kinds of directions, like the jazz-inflected ‘Mood Alabama / Aoibh Alabama’, the immeasurably sad ‘Sappho’s Daughter / Iníon Sappho’ and the jubilant ‘A Farewell to the Sea / Slán leis an bhFarraige’.
Refreshingly, the fiddler doesn’t need to hog the limelight. The tender ‘Flower / Bláth’ is guided along by Catherine Fitzgerald’s lonesome piano, Colm reserving his fiddle for a supporting role; Liam O Maonlaí’s tremulous ivory tinkling helps ‘Set Sail / Croch Seol’ to find open water; and when the brass section joins ‘The Legend of Oisín / Laoi Oisín’, it lifts the mood from stately to joyous in a heartbeat.
Quite a few tracks feature vocals, but there are no words. Instead Mac Con Iomaire treats the human voice like another instrument, there to play its part in the overall sound, nowhere lovelier than on the haunting ‘In the Arms of the Angels / I mBaclainn na nAingeal’.
Recorded in studios and homes across Wexford, Wicklow, Sheffield, Dublin and San Francisco, this is a beautiful collection that cements Mac Con Iomaire’s position as one of the finest Irish musicians and composers of his age.

Key Track - 'The Legend of Oisín / Laoi Oisín'