Trad music out now

KARAN CASEY & JOHN DOYLE
Exiles Return
Compass Records
***

Founder members of Solas, Karan Casey and John Doyle are a rich source of emigration-themed songs for singers intent on embellishing their repertoires. This collection trawls the depth of the Scots, English and Irish canon, and infuses many rare finds with a bare-boned immediacy. The Bay of Biscayis a pristinely crafted standout, with Dirk Powell's subtle production letting the song breathe amid its spacious arrangements. And yet these time- honoured themes of separation, recounted with gorgeous linguistic creativity, sometimes ring hollow in their insistence on harking to the past. There's ne'er a whisper of the contradictions between our ability to document past rejection and our indifference to more contemporary immigrant experiences on our own doorsteps.

Download tracks:Madam I'm a Darling, False Lover John