Uam

I'm going to dedicate this entry to the reason for my utter happiness right now. I don't really know why I'm writing in English. Somehow I feel it more natural to use this language when the subject of my writing is Gaelic music (the most natural language to use would probably be Gaelic, but my knowledge of the language is not great enough. Yet.). And inevitably; good practice, good practice, good practice...

Anyway, I bought Julie Fowlis' new album two days ago. For those unacquainted with her: Julie Fowlis is a fantastic singer and multi-instrumentalist from North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, and is considered as one of the most vivid and fresh contributors to traditional Gaelic music today. I've been listening to her music for about three years and always taken delight in it.

That's why I don't understand why I didn't buy the new album sooner than Friday the 13th (!) although it had been out for over a month already. I just couldn't be bothered (hey! student life!) to go a CD-store. I am very happy that I did it now, however. The album is simply pure awesomeness.

The album is called Uam ("From Me", one of these infamous prepositional pronouns) and consists of 13 songs, each of them, broadly speaking, in Scottish Gaelic.

The thing is, as I read in a review of the album, that there are no surprises in this album. The sound and the type of songs are in exactly the same style as earlier. Still the music of "Uam" struck me more deeply than any of Julie Fowlis' music, or indeed, hardly any music at all, has done before.

I think the music of Uam suits me so well right now. There is so much feeling in the music. This single album contains so many sensations: hope, sorrow, love, fear, desire, jealousy...and not to forget, happiness and joy. And as I'm right now in a state of feeling very much (sometimes a bit too much) I almost feel that Julie Fowlis is singing my life in this album.

One of my favourite songs is "Co Ni Mire Rium" ("Who Will Flirt With Me?"). This quite rapid clapping song has also been recorded by Capercaillie, another favourite band of mine. Capercaillie's version is, though, one of the few songs of that band that I don't really like: it is in my opinion too experimental, the whole song feels a bit pretentious and the "Gaelic joy" is lost. Julie Fowlis' version is, though, just fantastic. The previously mentioned joy is very much present here: there is a sensation of expectation and, yes, flirtation in the song which appeals very much to me (and I'm also very fond of the slender "r"s that appear here!).

The slow and gentle songs of "Bothan Airigh Braigh Raithneach" ("A Sheiling On The Braes Of Rannoch")and "He Gradh, Ho Gradh" ("He My Dear, Ho My Dear")are also utterly beautiful, and the instrumental piece An Chiad Cheum (The First Step) moved me to tears. Literally.

"Tha Brogan Ur Agam A-nochd" ("I Have New Shoes Tonight") is also a favourite of mine. The song consists of three tunes: two puirt a beul and one instrumental jig in the middle. I like the last part, the rather hasty "Mu chuachag 's laghach thu" ("My Beloved You Are So Nice")in particular. There is a feeling of rush in this song, which is combined with another feeling: that of unquenchable joy. I find this combination very attractive: in fact, I would consider this song as the best part of the whole album. It is very short, though, and you have to wait through the four minutes that makes the rest of the song until you come to the one minute long wonder of "Mu chuachag 's laghach thu". But it is worth it. And the rest of the song is not bad, either.

And I also have to mention "He Bha Mi, Ho Bha Mi" ("Ho I Was, He I was"), the last (and a capella) song of the album. The melody is very unusual; I think there is something Nordic in it, but on the other hand I try to find Nordic traces in everything Gaelic. The harmonies also make it even more stunning.

So, yes, I am quite in raptures over this album. There is something with Gaelic music that lies very close to my heart; these old songs are communicating more with me than any of the contemporary stuff.

And then there is also the language. Since I've been (more or less actively) studying Irish for some time, I've had a clue about Scottish Gaelic too. But it's a completely different thing now when I'm actually studying it at uni. I can actually understand some parts fully without reading the lyrics, and then it's always a nice feeling to be able to think "oh, there is the grammatical construction that we went through in school today".

Hmm...I feel like I should come with some kind of conclusion to this now. Ok, let it be this: I am very happy that I discovered Julie Fowlis. I am very happy that I discovered Gaelic music at all, since it has given me so much joy so far. I am very happy that I live in Glasgow and actually have access to the music I like, and a greater chance to meet people who share my passions ( I haven't really met anyone yet, though). And, I'm happy that I have the ability to be able to feel so happy about music. It makes life so much easier (I very much feel like saying that "music has saved my life" now, but since it is not exactly true, I won't).

And, go and check Julie Fowlis out! There should be a lot of stuff on Youtube, although not very much from her new album (and none of the songs I mentioned, I reckon).








And yes, this was not meant as a review of the album. These were just my very own subjective thoughts about it, which I felt I had to write down!



Cheers.