Water From The Well

Water From The Well is the kind of album that critics and fans of The Chieftains have been begging for since they seemed to get all tangled up in superstar collaboration albums such as Another Country, The Long Black Veil and Tears Of Stone. From their first album way back when, to their last, the purest music made by the group is the music made sans guests. And that's exactly what they've returned to, in all their glory, on Water From The Well.

The title comes from a quote by Sean Keane who, in the video that accompanies this album, suggests that musicians should return to the source of their music in order to "replenish" their souls. That is exactly what each Chieftain does on this album. Paddy, Sean, Matt Molloy, Martin Fay, Derek Bell and Kevin Conneef all choose individual tracks that reflect their personal heritage as musicians and, as such, the individual influences each member brought to the band.

As a result, the set of reels 'Live From Matt Molloy's Pub' is as lively as a night in that establishment. Likewise, Sean Keane's arrangement of 'The Kilfenora Set' breathes with all the beauty and joy that defines not only his own playing on the fiddle, but that of the Kilfenora Ceilidh Band of County Clare.

On 'The May Morning Dew' where Kevin Coneef sings as if truthfully rediscovering the soul of traditional Irish music. The same sense imbues Moloney's arrangement of 'The Dingle Set' and even the so-familiar-I-thought-it-had-lost-its-soul 'An Poc Ar Buile.'

In fact, Water From The Well may be the most joyful, truthful, pure and positively glorious album the Chieftains have made in at least a decade. It certainly is soul music from an Irish band that has been playing together - in one form or another - for nearly 40 years. The likes of U2, the Corrs and Therapy? should listen very closely to this music and pray they attain the same form of longevity. And pray, too, that one day they may reach the same level of artistry.