Ian Lynch is a pillar of the brilliant band Lankum, who recall late-period Portishead and Sunn O))) as much as the Watersons and their Irish ancestors Planxty. Long interested in how traditional sounds and lyrics can unseat and unsettle, his main instruments on his debut album as One Leg One Eye are his voice and the uilleann pipes, the latter creating layers of pulverising black metal drones on epic opening track Glistening, She Emerges. Field recordings of bubbling water and bassy chord progressions also tear hungrily at the song’s seams, establishing the album’s pulsing atmospheres of melancholy and menace.
Four other long tracks follow, recorded either in the sanctuary of his bedroom or abandoned spaces in Dublin (including a factory where Lynch’s father once worked, which fascinated his young son). The mood often feels immersive and monumental, but there is powerful intimacy, too.
I’d Rather Be Tending My Sheep (a mysterious song either collected or secretly written by West Midlands-born storyteller Ruth Tongue), gains a harrowing power in its echo-laden setting. On Bold and Undaunted Youth, an altered version of the traditional Newry Highwayman, Lynch is brilliant singing lyrics that sound as old as the Earth, their simple lyrics carrying oceans of sadness. “In Dublin town, I was bred and born,” he sings, his voice raw, resonant and gorgeous. “In Stephen’s Green / I die ’fore long.”
Mixed by longtime Lankum collaborator John “Spud” Murphy, a My Bloody Valentine devotee, hurdy-gurdies, shruti boxes and concertinas are manipulated through loops and effects pedals, creating dazzling sounds. A church organ (played by Ruth Clinton of Irish group Landless) and backing vocals (by black metal vocalist Laurie Shanaman) add further strata of feeling. It all suggests great things for Lankum’s next LP, out in spring.
Also out this month
Inspired by recurring dreams and nightmares, and uncompromising artists such as Aldous Harding and Pauline Oliveros, Elspeth Anne’s Mercy Me (self-released) is an intriguing mix of originals and tradition. The Welsh borders-based artist’s take on folk song Peggy Gordon in particular hums and roars. Burd Ellen’s A Tarot of the Green Wood (Mavis Recordings) explores the links between divination, magic and music in beguiling compositions, and is further proof of Debbie Armour and Gayle Brogan’s talents after their stunning 2020 winter album, Says the Never Beyond. Ellie Gowers’ Dwelling By the Weir (self-released) dives deep into Warwickshire history, folklore and song, the results full of delicacy, precision and gentle delight.
• This article was amended on 21 October 2022. An earlier version had incorrectly stated that Bold and Undaunted Youth was an original composition.
