Notify - InConcept review: an intriguing musical crossroad

Now here’s a crossroads that’s not so crowded, but still bustling with intriguing possibilities. This is a place where Irish traditional, jazz and electronica don’t so much fuse as fizz.

Anchored by the lithe, minimalist concertina of Pádraig Rynne (bringing this extraordinary instrument somewhere that only Nomos's Niall Vallely has dared to venture previously), InConcept marks a significant progression for the band from their 2013 debut.

Cormac McCarthy’s piano traces languid, fluid lines in the vein of Keith Jarrett, letting the melody line tell its own story, partnered by Eoin Walsh’s finely intuitive bass lines.

While there are occasional hints that Notify's musical ideas need further room to find full expansive expression, the latter half of the album, in the shape of Lucidity Trap, Panacea and False Awakening, forms a highly coherent, utterly original whole.

[ ropeadope.com ]