The traditional album of the week reviewed...

SOLAS

The Turning Tide Compass Records ***

For sheer eclecticism, Seamus Egan, Solas' chief cook and bottle washer, deserves an orchardful of laurels. His Philadelphia-born five piece has produced another strong collection here, propelled by a quartet of magnificent original tunes (Winifred Horan's A Waltz for Mairead, Mick McAuley's Trip to Kareoland Egan's Hugo's Big Reeland A Tune for Roan). In between lurks a mixed bag of song choices. Singer Mairead Phelan skirts around Richard Thompson's The Ditching Boywithout ever striking at the heart of the story, and the band's reading of Bruce Springsteen's Ghost of Tom Joadcompletely misses the infinite void at the song's core. Even the closer-knit Sadhbh Ní Bhruineallaigh suffers from a surfeit of breathy vulnerability. For once, Solas's magpie spirit may have led them astray. See compass records.com SIOBHÁN LONG

Download tracks: Hugo's Big Reel, A Waltz for Mairead