Manran

An Da La

Manran

THE confidence and togetherness that come from spending long periods on the road underscores the rousing Gaelic folk-rock on these twelve tracks. An da la literally translates as ‘the two days’ but it’s also an expression meaning great change and reflects change in Manran itself, in terms of personnel, and in the world around us.

Ewen Henderson’s title track, with its call and response lines, uses Gaelic and English to call for greater understanding and compassion and addresses Donald Trump in his mother’s native tongue. Elsewhere, Ayrshire-born Canadian songwriter David Francey’s poetic Pandora’s Box and Californian singer-songwriter Ben Harper’s I Shall Not Walk Alone are co-opted into the Manran sound as to the manner born alongside an older bardic response to forced emigration from Islay and a more humorous song of wifely chastisement.

As with the instrumental tracks, the arrangements of accordion, fiddle, pipes and flute offer both variety of colour and energy and the integration of melody instruments with the excellent rhythm section makes for a consistently satisfying listen.

Rob Adams