or someone from the land of green, lead singer Maire Brennan sure sees red when anyone - even the Grammy people - lumps Clannad into the new age category.
Nothing gets her Irish dander up more.
"I prefer world music than new age. I hate new age," Brennan said recently from her home in Dublin, Ireland. "First of all, we're not a new age band. We've been twice nominated for Grammy Awards for new age. Some of the boys have gone over for the awards, but I refuse to. We're not a new age band.
"New age is boring music; it's like mantra stuff. It's a matter of taste if you like Yanni or not. I'm not totally keen, but it's nice that there's room for everybody out there. There isn't a category for us, but I'm fine with world music because it's culture music. I like that, it has a chunky kind of feel to it. There's a good vibe from that category, I think."
More precise, by combining delicately crafted Celtic arrangements with a contemporary sound, Brennan and her band mates - brother Ciaran and uncles Noel and Padraig Duggan - are in a class by themselves.
"When people talk about Celtic music, they now include our sound as part of Celtic music," Brennan said. "It didn't exist before we started (in 1970). The way we developed and tracked vocals and harmonize and the way people now are copying us, it's nice to think that we've been very much part of something that has been a tradition here. You can only be flattered by something like that, when people copy you."
Clannad's new Atlantic album, "Landmarks" (released March 3), carries on the group's tradition of creating lush, earthy music that reflects the people and the culture of Ireland. Recorded last summer at Ballybetagh Wood, a 30-year-old rented house overlooking the bay of Dublin, "Landmarks" comes from Clannad's collective heart. The album's best track, "Of This Land," for instance, yearns for peace in a country torn apart by political and religious strife.
"It's about hoping that people will find the love back again that they have," Brennan said. "The healing for this land is very much in everyone's mind at the moment.
"There's a couple of songs on the album relating to certain parts and areas in Ireland. Like 'Bridge of Tears,' it's about a bridge in Donegal where I'm sure many a tear was shed. People used to go as far as this bridge to say goodbye to people who were immigrating."
"Landmarks" doesn't make any sociopolitical statements. Brennan said they will leave that to others.
"We've never been the kind of band that went political with our music," she said, "because first of all it can be dangerous to be out there preaching or come out with solutions or whatever. It just doesn't work. Some people can do it and do it very well. We very much wish for peace for all the people in this country. When you're talking about the culture and what Clannad's all about, that's really the root of it.
"People feel our music with an emotion, rather than thinking 'I must know what the Gaelic words are.' It's not the most important thing to our albums. It's the images, the way you feel."
"Landmarks" is certain to follow its 1996 predecessor, "Lore," to the top of Billboard's world music chart, familiar territory for Clannad since its international breakthrough in 1992 with "The Theme From Harry's Game" (used in the film "Patriot Games").
"I think we've done so successfully because we haven't stuck to a formula all the time," Brennan said. "We have been totally criticized, maybe rightly so, for various things we have experimented with through the years, like working with English producers or American producers. If you didn't try it out, you'd never know. It's all about experiences, about discovery.
"What motivates me now is the respect we have as a band. It's quite enormous; it's not something that's in the superstar element. It's quite nice. I don't have to pretend or not be myself, which is very important to me. And no matter how many musicians I've met - right across the board, all sorts, whether it's heavy metal, rock, country people - they all seem to know about the band and its impact. And, really, you cannot buy that. It makes you feel so good."
CLANNAD'S STORIED FAMILY TREE
By GERRY GALIPAULT
(April 4, 1996)
Journalists not well versed on the history of Clannad have made the mistake of assuming the acclaimed Irish quartet became an overnight sensation with "The Theme From Harry's Game" in 1992.
The thought amuses singer-harpist Maire Brennan.
First off, Clannad was formed in 1970 when Brennan, brother Ciaran and uncles Noel and Padraig Duggan took their traditional Irish songs from the stage of the Brennan family pub in Donegal and entered the Letterkenny Folk Festival. They won, and first prize was a recording contract with Philips.
They have since recorded countless albums, some in their native Gaelic and others in English. Their breakthrough came in 1982 when they were commissioned to write original music for a three-part TV movie in Britain. The song title: "The Theme From Harry's Game."
Fast-forward 10 years and the same song appeared on the "Patriot Games" soundtrack, became an instant hit on VH1 and fueled gold-plated sales for Clannad's "Anam" and "Banba" albums.
Some overnight sensation.
"What's really funny is that when 'Harry's Game' happened again," Maire Brennan said recently from her Dublin home, "people would say, 'Oh, you must be influenced by Enya.' Uh, sorry, but 'Harry's Game' was 14 years ago, and they didn't realize she's my sister and that she was part of the group in the early '80s.
"After finding that out, journalists who may have come in with three pages of questions have to start all over again."
That's fine with Brennan; Clannad has defied the odds for 26 years. Their latest Atlantic Records album, "Lore," is No. 1 on Billboard's world music chart. Produced by Hugh Padgham (Genesis, The Police, XTC) and Ciaran Brennan, "Lore" finds the group continuing a decades-long journey of fusing traditional elements with modern sounds.
" 'Lore' is related to storytelling or proverbs or anything that comes the cultural background," Maire Brennan said. "We never know what we're going to end up with when we go into the studio. There were a lot of songs when we went in, some songs that didn't happen, and we were very picky about what went on the album.
"It ended up that there were five full Gaelic songs and some Gaelic in choruses on the other tracks. I think it proves that we are comfortable with Gaelic. That's what we went for, what we really felt was close to us."
Non-Irish listeners may not understand Clannad's lyrics, but they are attracted to the group's beautiful, ethereal melodies.
"We get letters from fans who just want to relate to us how much the music means to them and how it benefits their life," Brennan said. "They tell us there's a lot of soul and spiritual feeling in it. It's extraordinary. I think it's great that we're doing something we love, that we're always experimenting with sounds and that it's keeping our interest in it. Hence, that's probably why we're still together after all these years."
|
|
|
| | Return home |
| (Copyright 1998 by Pause & Play. All Rights
Reserved.) |
|