Cynara

They may well have danced with the showbizz devil during their Riverdance days, but you can’t deny that few Irish bands are keeping it as real as Anúna. Cynara – their first album in nearly five years – sees them return to their original blueprint in impressive style. With material dating from the sixth to the twentieth centuries, this is about as far from the manufactured nonsense of daytime radio as you can possibly get. The tone of high drama is set from the off with the 14th century chant ‘Igitur Servus’, one of the many Irish songs included. While they do certainly drift a little close to the middle of the road at times – ‘I Dreamt That I Dwelt In Marble Halls’ is just too cutesy – there are enough truly dramatic pieces to make up for it. Perhaps the best thing about ‘Cynara’ is that it sets this music in its proper place in the global picture (the drone on ‘Christus 2000’ has more than a touch of Tibetan throat singing about it) and reclaims it from the godawful world of Celtic new ageism. And in their own quiet way, Anúna are just as radical a band as the likes of At The Drive In and Atari Teenage Riot.