Whatever forces, astral or otherwise, are steering the concertina front and centre in recent times, they are in full flight on this audacious debut from Atlas, aka Cillian Doheny (Moxie’s guitarist), and concertina player Cillian King.
Sometimes trippy and unfettered, Atlas’s swag bag of new compositions blatantly reference Sigur Rós and Jon Hopkins but their tastes for tracing looping, fantastical rhythms through a deliciously jagged-edged trajectory (aided in no small way by Notify’s Padraig Rynne) result in a concoction that has its ear trained firmly on the present and future. Wide-open vistas are the stuff of Atlas’s universe, with literary nods in the direction of Beckett and Oliver Sachs.
Their bold choice of a string quartet to colour and shade yields rich dividends, reinforced by the polished accompanying DVD. Curious and curiouser – music filtered through a mesmerising looking glass. A collection worth mining deeply.
