Rego Irish Records - Waiting For An Echo

Solas: Eamon McElhom (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, keyboards); Mick McAuley (vocals, accordion); Deirdre Scanlan (vocals); Seamus Egan (electric guitar, nylon-string guitar, bouzouki, flute, whistle, bodhran); Winifred Horan (fiddle, background vocals). Additional personnel: Pancho Alverez (bouzouki); Michael Aharon (piano); Chico Huff (double bass, bass guitar); Ben Wittman, Xurxo Nunez (drums, percussion); John Anthony (percussion). Solas has been making solid, lively albums of traditional Celtic folk since the mid-1990s. WAITING FOR AN ECHO contains all the rootsy passion and instrumental prowess fans have come to associate with the group. With their fresh update on the classic Celtic sound, Solas reinvigorate traditional tunes like "The Ploughman" with inventive arrangements, with still showing reverence with their straightforward renditions of dusty gems like "Silver Dagger." Though there is a fair bit of swirling dance music, as on the medley "Tom Sullivan's/Mick's Polka/The Newmarket Polka," there are moments of delicate beauty, as on the wistful, airy strains of "Doireann's Waltz." Though the music is not technically classified as New Age, Solas play with a delicacy and sensitivity that will please devotees of Celtic-inspired New Age, while still upholding the folk tradition that has earned them a sizable Celtic roots following.