Local Ground

Altan’s tenth studio album in two decades takes its name from the Bernadette Kiely painting that features on the jacket. The title is appropriate in more ways than one. Over recent years, the band has cleaved to familiar territory. The reason for the retreat to home ground was a brace of new arrivals: Nia (14-month-old daughter of Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and Dermot Byrne) and Richie (Ciaran Tourish's two-year-old son). Both are honoured with original tunes on this superb CD.
The badly-needed timeout has also given the members a chance to chase up some new material. Here too the emphasis is very much on the tradition of their Donegal base. Many of the tunes have long-standing Donegal associations. Several are performed by the great north west fiddler John Doherty.
Highlights include 'The Wind and Rain', a variant of the old ballad 'The Two Sisters' with rich multi-part harmonies from Tourish, Dáithí Sproule and Mark Kelly. Sproule resurfaces on the guitar-led 'The Roseville' . Another standout moment is Ciaran Curran's mandolin solo on the Peadar Ó Riada composition 'Sport'. Altogether, the album is as fine as one would expect from a band securely perched on Irish music's top tier.