The Widening Gyre is the twelfth studio album by Irish folk music group Altan and their eleventh studio album of original material, released in February 2015 on the Compass Records label. It was released to critical acclaim.
Overview
Presentation
This is the first studio album of original material to be released by Altan in almost 3 years since the release of Gleann Nimhe – The Poison Glen in 2012. This is also the first Altan album to feature new band member Martin Tourish on accordion.
In January 2015, Altan revealed that The Widening Gyre would be the name of their new album to be released in Ireland on 20 February 2015, in the UK on 23 February 2015 and in the US on 24 February 2015. And as they borrowed the title from "The Second Coming", one of W. B. Yeats poems, the first Irishman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. Altan's official website published a presentation of their new studio album The Widening Gyre giving many details about the new album: the new musical direction taken by the band, the album recording process and the participation of numerous guest musicians as well as the titles of some of the new tracks. The very same day, on their "Widening Gyre" iTunes page, Altan revealed the titles of the 14 tracks from their new studio album and released them for sale.
On 27 January 2015, on their "Widening Gyre" Compass Records page, Altan made available short snippets of their new tracks.
New musical direction
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh introduced the music on the album as an exploration of the influence of Appalachian music on Irish music. Recorded «with many good friends in the studio and Compass Records co-founder Garry West in the producer's chair steer[ing] the band in the studio to open up musically while somehow managing to help keep the integrity of Altan intact», the album is the result of a fusion «of the traditional Irish music that the members of Altan are known for, namely Donegal fiddling and Gaelic singing traditions, with American roots music, particularly that of the Appalachian bluegrass fiddle» and a celebration of the relationships between Altan and lifelong friends they've made through music.
The Widening Gyre straddles time as it manages to remind listeners of the ancient bond between Irish and Appalachian music while at the same time breaking new ground through collaborations between masters of American roots music and Celtic music.
Mairéad stated: «The title "The Widening Gyre" appeals to us and depicts the spiral of life, widening and embracing the new. It has an innate energy. We think that idea is reflected in the album's music».
The Widening Gyre is a compelling development in Altan's story proving that they are still growing as artists, even after nearly thirty years together — the longest running lineup of founding members in Irish music.
Recording
Altan recorded the new album over ten days from 29 July to 7 August 2014 entirely in Nashville, Tennessee (at Compass Records recording studios) to collaborate there with longtime friends and guests, many of the roots musicians the band members have met over their thirty years together including Tim O'Brien, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Bryan Sutton and Compass co-founder Alison Brown.
Musical themes and guest musicians
The list of guests on the new album is as diverse as it is impressive:
Mary Chapin Carpenter, a friend of the band since the 1990s, lent her vocals to the song "White Birds" to create a lush, meditative re-imagining of the W. B. Yeats poem about being a bird on the sea, an appropriate metaphor for a band who has musically and physically crossed the Atlantic in the making of the album.» Mairéad introduces «Eddi Reader as «an amazing singer and very generous person» offering her angelic backing vocals to "Far Beyond Carrickfinn" and she recalls that Altan have played concerts with Reader before and [that] they were delighted to finally have the Glasgow native join them in the studio.»
Altan borrowed the mournful waltz "No Ash Will Burn" from the legendary Nashville songwriter Walt Aldridge. Mairead's crystalline vocals unlock the Celtic undertones of the song while standing in stark contrast to the plaintive baritone of Bruce Molsky, a longtime friend of the band and well-known old-time fiddler and singer.
The bluegrass presence shows itself most clearly on "Buffalo Gals" and "Thomasino (Thomas Tourish's Tune)," a lively fiddle song written by Altan's own Ciarán Tourish who's joined by bluegrass greats Alison Brown, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Todd Phillips, Bryan Sutton and Darol Anger.