Ranagri
Album: Fort Of The Hare
Label: Stockfisch
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.ranagri.com

Nestled between the Wicklow Mountains and Co Carlow, Ireland, lies Rathnagrew (pronounced Ran-ag-rye!), which means "fort of the hare". It's an area of farmland with an untouched natural beauty, a place of peace and contemplation. And that's the very mood that comes across so prominently in the music of the quartet who've taken the name.

The group sound is airy and light-textured, replete with deft and elegant playing; the instrumentation rests on the genial talents of chief songwriter and guitarist Dónal Rogers, flautist Eliza Marshall, harpist Jean Kelly and bouzouki and bodhrán player Tad Sargent, whose characteristic combined tonal blend is as listener-friendly as it is limpid and relaxed. The band's website makes great play of a CV which embraces much collaboration with the greats and goods, but I really don't think they need to hype up the contact-list when their accomplished musicianship is so obvious from the start of their well-produced and beautifully-recorded CD. Lest you think the Ranagrí sound might sometimes be in danger of becoming just a little bland and unvarying, they have a keen sense of texture that enables them to bring in mildly exotic colours from branches of world music; the instrumental Atlas, for instance, incorporates the bansuri (Indian flute), harmonium and bowed psaltery amidst its complement, whereas other tracks may bring in kantele, shakuhachi or bass flute for added variety.

These backdrops form an ideal setting for the lyrics, all penned by Dónal himself, which wistfully espouse their contemporary philosophy of life and love with a gentle sensitivity. The most memorable songs seem to be clustered around the first half of the disc, with I Wonder an early highlight. Some of the later songs, like Strange World, feel a little too folk-lite to quite realise their mystic potential, but the overall tone of reassurance is nevertheless attractive.

The disc's most animated moment comes with the breezy, vibrant instrumental The Hare, which is rather like you'd imagine a meeting of Acoustic Jethro Tull with the Poozies; it provides a standout track as well as a necessary lift to the proceedings at just the right moment in the sequence where the idyll is arguably getting just a little cosy. It will be interesting to hear what Ranagrí do with traditional material.

David Kidman