Released on 10th June 2018.

A four-and-a-half-minute instrumental, lead track Sleepy Maggie perfectly encapsulates the ensemble’s richly layered and powerful sound. With sweeping strings, rolling percussion, tight brass, a fleeting guitar solo, and an unexpected Eastern vocal incursion, it’s a dramatic track, both muscular and delicate, oozing global influences.

Says band leader Joe Broughton: “Sleepy Maggie is a traditional tune which we’ve deconstructed and rearranged in typical ensemble fashion, pulling in ideas from various members of the ensemble to create something that sounds very very different from versions you might have heard before. The roots of the tune remain – which you can hear in the fiddles at the beginning – but the new arrangement heads off to some interesting and surprising places.

“It’s supposed to be deliciously over the top!”

The deconstruction continues with a series of surprising remixes and re-imaginings by various members of the ensemble that pushes Sleepy Maggie further into new musical territories.

“The idea of remixing the track is very much in keeping with the group’s approach to making music, of using what could be a straight-forward melody as the basis for a tune and seeing how that can be developed, or pushed, to create something that still acknowledges the original source, but is somehow transformed into something new and exciting,” explains Joe, adding the release took on a life of its own.

“This project started out as the single Sleepy Maggie, and after I mentioned the possibility of doing some remixes, in the pub after rehearsal one night, the ideas started flowing. Before I knew it I had club remixes, Chinese groove-monsters, full on drum’n’bass and more flowing into my inbox. I thought perhaps we could release a few of these with the single, but they just kept on coming.”

Hence it’s now a 10-track ‘mini-album’!

Brand New Album from Kevin Dempsey and Joe Broughton

The collection’s nine tracks range from outlandish and inventive instruments, to traditional and original songs, with “a slightly political twist” running through.

Highlights include Wheels Of The World, an old comment on politicians that seems even more relevant today; The Post Truth Reel, an instrumental filled with anger and sadness; and Resurrection Jack, which is based on an anti-racist poem by the late Dublin-born writer and editor, Evangeline Paterson.

“Whatever other projects we have done over the years, we always end up back together because we have so much common ground in our music,” says Joe.

“We’ve been working on this album for some time now, but we wanted to get it just right. Now feels like the moment – it’s the right time for this material to get out there, and we’re really excited about sharing it with everyone.”

TRACKLISTING:

1. Resurrection Jack (3:51)
2. Wheels of the World (4:30)
3. The Post Truth Reel (6:30)
4. Just Before the News (5:20)
5. De Pascale (5:44)
6. Wicked Polly (3:20)
7. La Moreau Part 1 & Part 2 (4:10)
8. Two Constant Lovers (5:41)
9. The Recovery Shuffle (6:01)