The Sigla Blog

Rónán Ó Snodaígh
Playdays ****

Kila have a massive following in Ireland and put on an energetic live show, that fans of that brand of world music-cum-Leveller’s style raggle-taggle love. Playdays is Rónán Ó Snodaígh’s third album and with the Kila crew, he is a master percussionist playing bodhrán, djembe, congas, bongos and guitar. While many of Kila’s layered tunes are instrumental, this album is a vehicle for Ó Snodaígh’s own style and the fact that he’s a published poet. His arid voice quietly tells us ruminative stories of love as in the rhetorical ‘Lover’ and ‘No Foolin You (about that time)’ On ‘Don’t Be A Stranger’ his mantra-like saying ‘Heat, Seal, Cauterize’ is a hypnotic hymn.

The undisputed best track . and the one Donal Dineen has been repeatedly playing . is ‘How’s About That Then’. It’s a simple song of childlike sayings that spins on an axis of woozy rhythms. It’s also the first song to feature a saxophone, which pokes in and out quietly before whizzing about like a crazy dervish in a big build-up at the end. After that, it shows up on every song and by the end of the album there’s a touch of sax fatigue. With the shadow of Kila lurking, there was always a risk of the songs being overloaded with instruments. Instead, the tracks manage a lightness that doesn’t take away from the complex compositions they are. Rónán was a good friend of the late Mic Christopher and borrowing WH Auden’s ‘Funeral Blues’ has penned a fitting tribute to him in ‘The Dream I Haven’t Showed Her’. For some, Kila are an acquired taste, but Ó Snodaígh’s album is one of measured grace, a rhythmic collection of open-hearted beauty.

Info: www.kila.ie