GENRE:
Traditional Gaelic singer. Rooted in the Irish language song tradition (also know as sean nós – the least understood, most complex part of Irish traditional music).
MORE ABOUT:
Lorcán Mac Mathúna is a Gaelic singer from Ireland. He sings in the Gaelic language in a style which could be described as similar in style to that of Iarla O Lionaird. His music, coming mainly from a minority language, would broadly be categorised in the ethnic or world music category. It is Irish Roots music, deep, dark, and soulful, which is not the same thing as stage traditional Irish.
Born in Cork in 1976 into a family with a passion for traditional music and singing, he has been singing Sean-Nós for the best part of two decades, learning from a broad range of individuals and styles.
Lorcán’s style is confident and measured and expresses the feeling of his songs by connecting the listener to the emotions of the songs creators. His presentation pricks your curiosity as he shares his enthusiasm for tunes, songs and stories, and the people who carried the tradition from the past.
SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY:
- “Rógaire Dubh” (2007)
PRESS REVIEWS:
“An astonishing new voice” (Songlines)
“Deep, dark and beautiful” (Songlines)
“It takes a keen ear and a sharply honed sensibility to appreciate where style and substance meet in a repertoire that is raw, astringent, technically complex and regionally diverse. A compelling collection of lowering laments that positions him in the vanguard of a new generation of sean nos singers.” (Songlines)
“Mac Mathúna has both the voice and the attitude to place him in the first rank of the new wave of traditional singers” (Journal of Music in Ireland)
“A fascinating alternative – distinctively Irish but without an atom of the paddywhackery that has come to infect the St Patrick’s Day celebrations” (Journal of Music in Ireland)
“Cork-born Lorcán is a passionate young sean-nós singer with a confident and commanding, though sensible, measured style which emphasises the musical quality of the song in an often innovative way while demonstrating both a respect for and understanding of the texts. Sean-nós singing can be a bit of an acquired taste, I’ll admit, but Lorcán’s strongly individual presentation is both intense and involving without being austere or intimidating: deliberate: yes but involved rather than soporific. There’s both intimacy and an understated sensuousness in his response.” (The Living Tradition)
“One of the most captivating discs of sean-nós singing I’ve encountered in recent years.” (The Living Tradition)
LINKS:
www.lorcanmacmathuna.com
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