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The James Blake & Rosalía song samples from an old Irish folk song

The James Blake & Rosalía song samples from an old Irish folk song

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Shout out to RTE 2FM DJ Tara Stewart for discovering this.

It sounds like ‘Barefoot In The Park’, the collaborative song on James Blake’s new lovelorn album Assume Form features a sample from an old Irish folk song.

Here’s their song:

Tara did some digging for the sample:

The song is purportedly ‘Fíl a Run Ó’ recorded by singer Valerie Armstrong in 1972.

Tara’s friend texted her to say it has his aunt Valerie Armstrong from the Feis Ceoil in Dublin in 1971 who was indeed 13 years of age at the time.

'Fill Fill A Rún Ó' Valerie Armstrong "Come West along the Road" 1971

We’ve yet to verify this in the credits for the album as it’s not listed on the Wiki and a vinyl version of the album isn’t out yet. Update: The artist herself got in touch and confirmed the sample clearance.

This reminds us of the time Passion Pit’s Sleepyhead sampled Mary O’Hara in a similar fashion.

Mary O’Hara has also covered ‘Fíl a Run Ó’:

3Mary O'Hara    Fill, Fill A Run O VintageMusic es

We also broke down some famous samples including the one above at our Loose Joints live show in the Science Gallery last year.


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