MOJO, NPR MUSIC, THE INDEPENDENT, THE GUARDIAN, WNYC, BOSTON GLOBE, & Q MAG ALL HAIL RELEASE OF THE GLOAMING, OUT
FEB 25 ON CD ON BRASSLAND
The Gloaming – a new group compromised of Martin Hayes (violin, fiddle),
Thomas Bartlett aka Doveman (piano), Iarla O'Lionaird (vocals), Dennis
Cahill (guitar) and Caoimhin O'Raghallaigh (hardanger fiddle) – has
earned incredible notices with its debut, self-titled album, out now via
digital download and
February 25
on CD from Brassland. It debuted at #1 on the iTunes World Music chart
and at #2 on Billboard's World Music chart and promises to be the
soundtrack of St. Patrick's Day, 2014. Here's what we're reading:
"In short, this is the rare album that might well transform the syntax of a whole style… sheer beauty."
- Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR Music
"I already have to save room on my top ten list for 2014 for this next
record… it is really terrific… There is something haunted and twilit
about this album, very beautiful…"
- John Schaefer, WNYC New Sounds
"*****… Brilliant… a thrillingly original magic."
- Colin Irwin, MOJO
"*****… The Gloaming are a five-piece ensemble eliding Irish folk music
with the contemporary New York art-music scene. The upshot is a rather
ECM-ish well of open space irrigated by a flow of motifs, textures,
tempos and, more abstractly, romantic yearnings." – Simmy Richman, The
Independent (UK)
"Exquisite… Bravely contemporary… [They] have created a distinctive style of their own." - Robin Denselow, The Guardian (UK)
"The Gloaming is a wonderful mix of soulful and passionate talents who have created their own genre."
- Peter Gabriel
"Enormously rewarding."
- Andy Fyfe, Q Magazine
"*****… Brilliantly innovative and executed with masterly conviction… An
astonishing marriage of the old and the new in music as modern as it is
ancient, as epic as it is intimate."
-Michael Quinn, Songlines
"*****…Exceptional… Remarkable [and] unique… [Paints on] a wider, more expansive canvas."
– Peter Quinn, The Arts Desk
"Masterful."
– Michael Andor Brodeur, The Boston Globe
"A milestone… This debut album lives up to the loftiest of expectations.
The wonderfully virtuosic music is rooted in an ancient Irish
tradition, no doubt about that, but there's an experimental flavour to
the compositions that makes the album such an intriguing, arresting
listen."
- John Meagher, Irish Independent
"*****… This is contemporary music making at its very best:
unself-conscious, freewheeling and yet deeply thoughtful, revealing
layer upon layer with each listening… The Gloaming revel in wide open
vistas and endless space. It’s as if each member has hankered after the
company of players, all coming from distinctly different places, their
knapsacks brimful of salty ideas, colourful whims and a fearless
appetite for mining seams previously unexplored. With almost 60 minutes
of free-flowing music to draw from, the listener is privy to a wide
palette, defined more by shape and mood than tethered by genre."
-Sibhan Long, Irish Times
"Certain to become a landmark album."
- Colm O Hare, Hot Press
