A recent release reviewed

DARREN MALONEY
who? Claddagh Records
****

Timing is everything. Having undergone a rehabilitation akin to the miraculous recovery enjoyed by the accordion in recent years (partly thanks to the cult success of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack), the banjo's been riding high on a crest of unprecedented popularity. Darren Maloney is a young Cavan player who's harnessed the moment with enviable flair. With no less than 15 original tunes lurking within his début collection, who? is a work of audacious confidence, from his opening gambit, melding Michael McGoldrick's funky Farewell to Whalley Range with his own fluent and freewheeling Atholl's. Lithe percussion permeates the collection, courtesy of De Jimbe's Brian Fleming and Joe Brennan, whose intricate but ever-subtle guitar lines happily loll alongside Maloney's spirited banjo. Self-produced débuts seldom reveal such bold talents. www.darrenmaloney.com

Siobhán Long