Kíla release new single ‘Cé A Chum’

Kíla have released a new single ‘Cé A Chum’ – the first track from their upcoming album of the same name which comes out in October.

“Fonn bríomhar beo. Amhrán álainn lán le gleo. In onóir don laoch dána Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí. Dorn san  aer dos na Gael.”

“A lively, spirited tune. A beautiful, rousing song. In honour of the bold hero Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí. A fist in the air for the Gaels,” Colm ó Snodaigh said of the single.

Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí was an Irish broadcaster known for his magazine programme Rónán Beo on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. He passed away in 2023.

The new album will follow Raise the Road, a collaborative record with an 8-piece brass band arranged by Paul Frost, which was released last May.

Last weekend, Kíla played the Dublin Fleadh at the Smithfield Market alongside Brass.

The contemporary folk band was formed in the late 1980s when the founding members met at school. Their music blends Irish lyrics with traditional folk instruments such as whistles, fiddles, Uilleann pipes with djembe, congas, drums, mandolins, brass and guitars.

In 2020, they won the IFTA for Best Original Score for the soundtrack of Arracht. They also collaborated with French composer Bruno Coulais on the music for Cartoon Saloon’s three Oscar-nominated animated films – The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea and, most recently, Wolfwalkers.

In 2003, 2004 and 2007, they won the Hot Press Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Trad Act.

Listen to ‘Cé A Chum’ below.