Raw Bar Collective -Ag Fogairt An Lae album review: muscular music in full flow

Five years after their debut recording, Raw Bar Collective (what timelessness and modernity they captured in their title) are out of the traps again.

And that’s what it feels like, as they nonchalantly conjure the energy of the live session. With sean nós singer Nell Ní Chróinín and bodhrán player Colm Murphy now inducted as fully fledged members, the flute, guitar and accordion combinbation reaches for new heights, propelled by a combination of flute player Cónal Ó Gráda’s original tunes, Benny McCarthy’s tasty box playing and a weakness for witty tune titles and sparkling sleeve notes.

Together, these five musicians swing between polkas, marches, barndances and songs (with reels and jigs jostling in between) and while occasionally the cohesion may falter, this is mighty muscular music in full flow. rawbarcollective.com