Sunny Spells And Scattered Showers

Solas are based in the U.S. and are indisputably one of the best neo-trad Irish bands--from anywhere. This is an extraordinary album, which is saying plenty, as they've never made a bad one. Solas make such urgent music that every tune sounds completely new, even when heard over and over again. The virtuosity of the instrumentalists is beyond compare, and they sometimes wreak playful havoc on the straight up-and-down of Irish time signatures without compromising their sources. Singer Karan Casey offers an astonishing combination of cool-headed technique and unfettered passion--her duet with John Doyle on "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" could raise goose pimples on a two-by-four. But the fiery temperament and precise picking of Philadelphia's own Seamus Egan is why Solas can make a simple jig or reel swing within an inch of its life. Sung in Irish and English. --Christina Roden