As a child her singing style and repertoire had been heavily influenced by the likes of Rosie Stewart, Rita Gallagher, Paddy Tunney, Frank Harte, Dolores Keane, Ann Mulqueen and many other songsters she came across at traditional singing events. From these she learned the importance of giving the songs her own personal touch, while at the same time remaining true to the tradition.
In this album the great themes of the tradition are all revisited, and we are treated to ballads of love, heartbreak and joy, and of yearning, humour and emigration (itself a phenomenon that has sadly returned to Ireland’s shores of late), delivered in Aoife’s trademark style: as crystal clear as pure spring water. The time-honoured convention of the unaccompanied voice is adhered to on six of the songs, while on other tracks the guitar and bouzouki of Fintan McManus or the keyboards of Eileen Tackney are tastefully employed, embellished here and there with strings, harp or pipes from Eimear Reilly, Kavan Donohoe and Padraig McGovern.
While most of the songs are in the English-language, which was always predominant in Ulster singing, two are in Irish, one being ‘An Bonnan BuÌ’, the 18th-century west Cavan versifier Cathal BuÌ Mac Giolla Ghunna’s coded mitigation of his own fondness of drinking, while the other is ‘Cunla’, a bawdy old gem that documents the doubtful advances of a lecherous would-be lover. And in the latter we are also treated to some lilting by none other than Cavan’s old master of the art, Seamus Fay.
Other favourites given a fresh going over on this recording include a version of ‘The Bonny Light Horseman’ inspired by the late, great Frank Harte, and ‘The Lowlands of Holland’, in which Aoife takes the lead from a recording by singing legend Dolores Keane. These, like many of the other tracks on Aoife, are often requested at her live performances, and she hopes that all who enjoy her on-stage renditions will be equally pleased with this new recording. Listen to samples of each track using the player below.