ALBUM REVIEW: An Chailleach – Joy Shannon

Éire. The Emerald Isle. Ireland. It is a country that conjures up vivid and magical imagery in your mind, an island with stunning landscapes with a turbulent and fascinating history alongside a wealth of folklore and mythology. This includes the An Chailleach, the crone or elder goddess of Irish mythology, which provides the inspiration and title for JOY SHANNON’s new album. An Chailleach sees SHANNON team up with a number of artists including dark fold duo OSI AND THE JUPITER, ambient artist Leila Abdul-Rauf and WORM OROBOURS singer and guitarist Jessica Way to create a haunting, ethereal and spellbinding album. 

SHANNON delves into the depths of the Irish lore of winter on An Chailleach, as a result the compositions consist of sombre, melancholic and haunting vocal melodies and gentle harp arrangements. The album follows on from 2020s The Cave which was inspired by the ritualistic use of caves in ancient Ireland, and it is the fourth in a series of albums inspired by the ancient lore and history of Ireland. Alongside 2015s Mo Anam Cara – Irish for soulmate or spiritual teacher, the album follows the ancient Celtic calendar, with a song dedicated to each pagan holiday. 2017s Aes Sidhe – Irish for “the spirits of the other world”, the album takes the listener on a musical journey through the Irish afterlife, from entering the darkness of the ancient burial mounds to the glorious peace of the afterlife in the lands of Tír na n’Óg.

Given the themes and stories that SHANNON is working with on An Chailleach, the album takes a minimalistic approach. With each song focusing on the graceful and ethereal nature of SHANNON’s harp and the various vocal melodies that are woven in between the delicate, floating harp compositions. Each of these are soaked in reverb to give you a sense of cavernous space, inviting your imagination to curl up by a fire in a cave whilst the biting winter frosts close in. It is almost medieval in nature, reminiscent of album’s like WARDRUNA’s Skald but from a Celtic perspective. It feels like the emphasis is on creating an atmosphere in which your imagination can get carried away exploring this haunting, eerie and somewhat peaceful wintery Irish landscape. 

However, An Chailleach – as beautiful and ethereal as it is – it’s too long. At an hour and ten minutes and roughly at the same tempo throughout its entirety, you begin to lose interest halfway through,  as the main themes and atmosphere of he album is established in the first ten minutes and doesn’t change from there. Which is a shame considering that one of the album’s best tracks Corr Bán (Tar Árais Dom), which features HEILUNG’s Kai Uwe Faust is at the end of the album. There is also a lack of anything to drive the songs, there’s a lack of percussion in areas where it would make an impact, in songs like Leaving (feat. Leila Abdul Rauf), Corr Bán and Caer Ibormeith (feat. OSI AND THE JUPITER and Leila Abdul Rauf) it would have added some more interesting dynamics to latch on to. As a result, a lot of the album just blends into one continuous song that takes ages to build and doesn’t conclusively end in any satisfying way. 

For the most part An Chailleach, has a lot of filler songs that detract from the songs that do stand out. It sadly ends up becoming a background noise album as nothing truly commands your attention. Despite this, there are some interesting moments on the album, such as the vocal harmonies Airmid (feat. Leila Abdul Rauf) and icy water droplet chimes in the background. The haunting chant in the background of Cailleach (feat. Jessica Way)’s guitars and main vocal melodies  stands out alongside the CLANNAD-esque atmosphere on The Spell (feat. Emily Jane White). And the final highlight is on Corr Bán (Tar Árais Dom) where the Germanic and Celtic worlds come together to create a song that harks back to the turmoils of the Early Medieval era in Ireland when Vikings threatened the shores the second winter faded. 

While artistically you can see what JOY SHANNON is going for and the concept behind the album is amazing, it just feels like An Chailleach has missed its mark. While winter is a desolate, cold and unforgiving season, it can also be turbulent and full of unexpected action, the same goes for the Irish myths the album is based on – sadly, none of that is really present here. While it is tranquil and peaceful to listen to choral voices, and there is no doubting SHANNON’s ability as wonderful songwriter and musician, you kind of feel mislead when you listen to An Chailleach and ultimately left unsatisfied at its conclusion. 

Rating: 6/10

An Chailleach is set for release on 1st November via Royal Tea. 

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