MALINKY – Far Better Days (Malinky Music MM001)

FarBetterDaysI love the music that is being produced in Scotland these days. I love its adventurousness and its imagination. I love the way that musical partnerships come together and split apart as though there is too much music for anyone to stand still long enough to make two albums together. But behind all this is the wealth of traditional music that stretches back over the centuries and underpins all the innovation.

Which is where Malinky come in. They are dedicated to Scots song and uncompromising in their commitment to the Scots language, which is a little surprising when you remember that their early years helped to propel Karen Polwart to solo songwriter stardom. Malinky are not averse to borrowing a song when it’s appropriate, however, so the version of ‘The Twa Sisters’ is translated from the original Swedish by Steve Byrne. ‘Long Cookstown’ is an Irish song, presumably brought in by Mark Dunlop who sings it; ‘The Wild Geese’ is a poem by Violet Jacob set to music by Jim Reid and Mike Vass gets to include one of his own tunes.

The rest is pure Scots traditional and my favourite is a song I’ve known for years but is rarely heard this far south. ‘The Bonnie Hoose O Airlie’ is a story of 17th century warfare between the royalist Earl Of Airlie and the anti-monarchist Earl Of Argyll although you can’t help but feel that there was something more opportunistic behind the attack given that Airlie wasn’t even there. The story has been embellished over the years but it’s still a superb song and beautifully sung by Fiona Hunter. Second to it but only by a whisker is ‘Son David’, another beautiful song telling a grim story. This version comes from Jeannie Robertson and features producer Donald Shaw on Ivor Cutler’s old harmonium and rich harmony singing from all four band members.

It’s not all gloom and bloodshed. ‘The Brisk Young Lad’ is a tale of failed courtship and ‘The Moss O Burreldale’ is apparently about a fight between Traveller families although it sounds far too jolly for that – just how does one plait one’s knees?

As I remarked, Malinky are somewhat uncompromising in their use of language and a crash course in Scots dialect would be advantageous but most of it makes perfect sense with the odd word or phrase to be deciphered. Oddly, Violet Jacob’s words are the most difficult.

Dai Jeffries

Artists’ website: www.malinky.com

A live version of ‘The Wild Geese’ recorded in 2009:

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