Some Kind Words:
Some Kind Words:Cua’s Oh Sun Shine Down is (to quote the great band Horslips!) “a warm sweet breath” of modern Irish folk music. And it conjures the very same magic as Clannad’s second album, purchased “by chance it was”, which was my first foray into Irish folk music. Horslips followed; then Planxty, The Bothy Band, Tri Na nÓg, The Wolfe Tones, De Dannan, The Chieftains, and Patrick Street all followed suit. I even found an import copy of In Tua Nua’s Vaudeville and Scullion’s Balance And Control (produced by John Martyn!) in some sort of reduced price bin in a mall record store.
After all of that, you’d think there would nothing new to be found under the watchful eye of Lugh, the Celtic god of the sun.
Well, to (sort of) cite the very American idiom supposedly asked by a young baseball fan to “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, I can counter that sad history and, this time, simply say, like any good folk song, “It ain’t so”.
Indeed, Cua’s album doesn’t really sound like any of these records. But they are an Irish band that plays with that, as said, very same magic that still cares about that epic Cattle Raid of Cooley. Yeah, these guys are just a bunch of (in their very own way) brand new Dancehall Sweethearts.
The first two songs have the joyous vocal comradery of the traditional Wolfe Tones fused with the modern pulse of The Saw Doctors. All three players, John Davidson, Shane Booth, and Ros O’Meara sing in melodic unison. And a fiddle and a bouzouki bend in sympathy with the beauty of the breezy tune, ‘Oh Sun Shine Down’. And ‘Sunrise’ is even more poignant, with vocal harmony and an acoustic guitar fiddled hoedown barn dance that, once again, conjures the best of traditional music.
But then – odd: ‘The Guiser’s Fancy’ is an instrumental quick step, with dramatic Baltic and world music punctuation. And it conjures the spirit of (the great) Shooglenifty on their Real World Live At Selwyn Hall, Box album.
Then – even more odd: ‘Beautiful’ touches a reggae pulse, with yet another folky world music breeze, framed in fiddle and (an almost) intensely human Christy Moore patient vocal that can still sing about those “Cliffs Of Dooneen”. It’s an odd pretzel with a rather lovely twist.
That delightful world tributary is followed by the instrumental, ‘Come On You And Shine’, which captures an almost classical vibe in its stringed dexterity (fiddle and guitar) and a quiet percussion pulse. Again, the Scottish band Shooglenifty comes to mind.
Then, ‘No Sequel’ returns to the pure joy of an ever-decent tune, with a carefree vocal and a spoken word profession to, let’s just say, a surprising love of life! Sometimes, folk music does that sort of thing.
But ‘If I Should Find Myself’ gets solemn serious with a candle dirge dripped piano pulse and drama to burn. The vocal harmonies capture passion that conjures the ancient contemplation that dissolves (with eerie backing vocals!) into the sparks of a ritual fire. This is really nice folk stuff.
The album ends with ‘Sail Me Home’, and eight-minute reflection on the loss of a loved one that oozes with (of all things!) a Pink Floyd “dark side” very human “moon”. The song floats on soft passion and a broken human heartbeat. It’s an epic tune with a vocal that sadly sings the inscripted words on a familiar tombstone.
Oh Sun Shine Down is a fresh voice that always sings the affirmative “It ain’t so” to the doubt that music can still, even today, travel with the Tuatha De Danann mystical folk who journeyed “sideways to the sun” and are still be heard in “the laughter in the twilight”. Indeed, this album is “a warm sweet breath” with an always current river magic in its grooves.
Bill Golembeski
Artists’ website: https://www.cuamusic.com/
Irish folk music for the 21st Century with world music flavourings.Irish music has had a profound influence on world music due to the size of the Irish diaspora. Coming closer to Ireland itself, the popularity of The Dubliners and The Chieftains in the ‘60s helped popularise modern-day Irish music which really took off in the ‘70s with everyone from Thin Lizzie and Horslips, to Planxty and on to The Pogues in the ‘80s. This process has continued into the 21St Century with Cua, a vocal trio comprising John Davidson, Shane Booth, and Ros O’Meara whose vocals invoke Crosby, Stills & Nash. This mix of Irish heritage with a modern sheen invoked memories of Irish folk duo Tír na nÓg from the early ‘70s who were contemporaries of Nick Drake and Fairport Convention, and who achieved a degree of critical acclaim and coverage in the media. ‘Oh Sun Shine Down’ is Cua’s third full-length album, and it is also unsurprisingly their pandemic album which provided them with the opportunity to introduce new and fuller sounds to their core offering.
Your attention is grabbed immediately by the harmony vocals on the title track ‘Oh Sun Shine Down’ with its positive lyrics and bouncy tune, with fiddle and bouzouki clear in the mix. Fiddle is to the fore on the single ‘Sunrise’ which with its hoedown feel reminds everyone of the level of influence Irish music had on the music of Appalachia. If anyone thought they knew what the latest music from Cua would sound like the next track is a bit of a jolt, not because of any musical dissonance, but because of the East European and vaguely Arabic influences of the instrumental ‘Guiser’s Fancy’. Fiddle is again a key feature of ‘Beautiful’ but the surprise here is that rhythm transports us to Kingston, Jamaica, with the reggae undertones. ‘Celebrations’ is not so much world but new age music but livens up as the drums kick in. The metaphor of the sun is again front and centre on ‘Come On You And Shine’ which has a lively percussive feel and a spoken-word interlude. Piano opens ‘No Sequel’ and the vocals maintain the sense of solemnity throughout this track. We are back in pure traditional folk territory with ‘If I Should Find Myself’ which is clear evidence of Cua’s understanding of traditional Irish music. The closing track is the nearly nine-minute long ‘Sail Home With Me’ with its cinematic sound.
Like many artists, the pandemic gave Cua the opportunity to review and expand their sound on ‘Oh Sun Shine Down’, and this may also make their music more appealing to potential new fans, while still staying true to their Irish folk roots. Nearly fifty years ago, Tír na nÓg expanded their sound on their third album, 1973’s ‘Strong In The Sun’, which became their best-known recording before they disbanded in 1974. Time will tell what happens to Cua in the future, but they have successfully expanded their sound on what is their strongest album to date. If you like Irish folk with some world rhythms and the occasional new age wash of sound then ‘Oh Sun Shine Down’ is definitely worth listening to.
- https://americana-uk.com/cua-oh-sun-shine-down
Americana-UK
After all of that, you’d think there would nothing new to be found under the watchful eye of Lugh, the Celtic god of the sun.
Well, to (sort of) cite the very American idiom supposedly asked by a young baseball fan to “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, I can counter that sad history and, this time, simply say, like any good folk song, “It ain’t so”.
Indeed, Cua’s album doesn’t really sound like any of these records. But they are an Irish band that plays with that, as said, very same magic that still cares about that epic Cattle Raid of Cooley. Yeah, these guys are just a bunch of (in their very own way) brand new Dancehall Sweethearts.
The first two songs have the joyous vocal comradery of the traditional Wolfe Tones fused with the modern pulse of The Saw Doctors. All three players, John Davidson, Shane Booth, and Ros O’Meara sing in melodic unison. And a fiddle and a bouzouki bend in sympathy with the beauty of the breezy tune, ‘Oh Sun Shine Down’. And ‘Sunrise’ is even more poignant, with vocal harmony and an acoustic guitar fiddled hoedown barn dance that, once again, conjures the best of traditional music.
But then – odd: ‘The Guiser’s Fancy’ is an instrumental quick step, with dramatic Baltic and world music punctuation. And it conjures the spirit of (the great) Shooglenifty on their Real World Live At Selwyn Hall, Box album.
Then – even more odd: ‘Beautiful’ touches a reggae pulse, with yet another folky world music breeze, framed in fiddle and (an almost) intensely human Christy Moore patient vocal that can still sing about those “Cliffs Of Dooneen”. It’s an odd pretzel with a rather lovely twist.
That delightful world tributary is followed by the instrumental, ‘Come On You And Shine’, which captures an almost classical vibe in its stringed dexterity (fiddle and guitar) and a quiet percussion pulse. Again, the Scottish band Shooglenifty comes to mind.
Then, ‘No Sequel’ returns to the pure joy of an ever-decent tune, with a carefree vocal and a spoken word profession to, let’s just say, a surprising love of life! Sometimes, folk music does that sort of thing.
But ‘If I Should Find Myself’ gets solemn serious with a candle dirge dripped piano pulse and drama to burn. The vocal harmonies capture passion that conjures the ancient contemplation that dissolves (with eerie backing vocals!) into the sparks of a ritual fire. This is really nice folk stuff.
The album ends with ‘Sail Me Home’, and eight-minute reflection on the loss of a loved one that oozes with (of all things!) a Pink Floyd “dark side” very human “moon”. The song floats on soft passion and a broken human heartbeat. It’s an epic tune with a vocal that sadly sings the inscripted words on a familiar tombstone.
Oh Sun Shine Down is a fresh voice that always sings the affirmative “It ain’t so” to the doubt that music can still, even today, travel with the Tuatha De Danann mystical folk who journeyed “sideways to the sun” and are still be heard in “the laughter in the twilight”. Indeed, this album is “a warm sweet breath” with an always current river magic in its grooves.
Bill Golembeski
Artists’ website: https://www.cuamusic.com/
Irish folk music for the 21st Century with world music flavourings.Irish music has had a profound influence on world music due to the size of the Irish diaspora. Coming closer to Ireland itself, the popularity of The Dubliners and The Chieftains in the ‘60s helped popularise modern-day Irish music which really took off in the ‘70s with everyone from Thin Lizzie and Horslips, to Planxty and on to The Pogues in the ‘80s. This process has continued into the 21St Century with Cua, a vocal trio comprising John Davidson, Shane Booth, and Ros O’Meara whose vocals invoke Crosby, Stills & Nash. This mix of Irish heritage with a modern sheen invoked memories of Irish folk duo Tír na nÓg from the early ‘70s who were contemporaries of Nick Drake and Fairport Convention, and who achieved a degree of critical acclaim and coverage in the media. ‘Oh Sun Shine Down’ is Cua’s third full-length album, and it is also unsurprisingly their pandemic album which provided them with the opportunity to introduce new and fuller sounds to their core offering.
Your attention is grabbed immediately by the harmony vocals on the title track ‘Oh Sun Shine Down’ with its positive lyrics and bouncy tune, with fiddle and bouzouki clear in the mix. Fiddle is to the fore on the single ‘Sunrise’ which with its hoedown feel reminds everyone of the level of influence Irish music had on the music of Appalachia. If anyone thought they knew what the latest music from Cua would sound like the next track is a bit of a jolt, not because of any musical dissonance, but because of the East European and vaguely Arabic influences of the instrumental ‘Guiser’s Fancy’. Fiddle is again a key feature of ‘Beautiful’ but the surprise here is that rhythm transports us to Kingston, Jamaica, with the reggae undertones. ‘Celebrations’ is not so much world but new age music but livens up as the drums kick in. The metaphor of the sun is again front and centre on ‘Come On You And Shine’ which has a lively percussive feel and a spoken-word interlude. Piano opens ‘No Sequel’ and the vocals maintain the sense of solemnity throughout this track. We are back in pure traditional folk territory with ‘If I Should Find Myself’ which is clear evidence of Cua’s understanding of traditional Irish music. The closing track is the nearly nine-minute long ‘Sail Home With Me’ with its cinematic sound.
Like many artists, the pandemic gave Cua the opportunity to review and expand their sound on ‘Oh Sun Shine Down’, and this may also make their music more appealing to potential new fans, while still staying true to their Irish folk roots. Nearly fifty years ago, Tír na nÓg expanded their sound on their third album, 1973’s ‘Strong In The Sun’, which became their best-known recording before they disbanded in 1974. Time will tell what happens to Cua in the future, but they have successfully expanded their sound on what is their strongest album to date. If you like Irish folk with some world rhythms and the occasional new age wash of sound then ‘Oh Sun Shine Down’ is definitely worth listening to.
- https://americana-uk.com/cua-oh-sun-shine-down
Americana-UK