RÓIS is a Fermanagh composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and electronic artist, who released the brilliant album Mo Léan that placed highly on my Irish albums of the year in 2024.
RÓIS‘ MO LÉAN to be given global release on November 20th on Domino, fully remastered with a new song on the record, ahead of gigs in London in November and New York in December.
MO LÉAN blends sean-nós, folk and experimental sounds and was inspired by recordings of keening songs and the particular Irish traditions that surround death.
The death theme lends the work a liminal dark exploratory edge, and the combination of vocals and music that conjur up the otherworldly, place an emphasis on sonics, dynamics and the power of a voice, while channeling keening, wailing or moving impressively in scale, musically and literally, on tracks like ‘Caoine’ and ‘Feel Love’.
A humorous nod to the Irish people’s fascination with death notices and RIP.ie is present on ‘The Death Notices’ and the Angelus is the basis of interludes on the 27 minute release.
MO LÉAN was awarded the Album of the Year title at the Northern Ireland Music Prize, and was shortlisted for the Choice Music Prize.
The remastered version of MO LÉAN will be released on November 20th and the digital format will feature a brand-new track ‘PORT NA H-EALA’. Today, RÓIS shares a visceral performance of ‘WHAT DO YOU SAY (LIVE FROM A WAKE)’:
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Tracklisting:
- WHAT DID YOU SAY
- ANGELUS 1
- CITÍ
- ANGELUS 2
- CAOINE
- ANGELUS 3
- OH LOVELY APPEARANCE OF DEATH
- THE DEATH NOTICES
- FEEL LOVE
- PORT NA H-EALA – new track on digital release only
Upcoming live dates
17th November – ICA, London Tickets
3rd December – Union Pool, Brooklyn, NY Tickets
Presale from tomorrow via RÓIS’s mailing list, general sale from Friday 2nd Oct 10am local time
MO LÉAN will be available on clear vinyl, CD and digitally. Pre-order: DomMart | Digital
About RÓIS
RÓIS aka Rose Connolly’s eclectic ear for melody developed at an early age; growing up in a family of traditional music players, RÓIS’s formative years were shaped not only by playing beloved Irish folk songs passed down through generations (for a period, she was even part of a wedding and funeral band with her sister) but also by an appreciation for more conventional song structures that came from listening to the likes of the Beatles, Nirvana, and Bowie. Her musical taste would expand to include techno and jazz, with a particular fondness for the work of Cory Henry and Robert Glasper. This varied foundation – both as a musician and a music fan – ultimately inspired RÓIS to study music composition in Dublin’s Royal Irish Academy of Music. The next pivotal turning point in Connolly’s education and artistry arrived whilst living in The Hague. There, she learnt how to speak Irish, which would inform the path her music would follow.
MO LÉAN – RÓIS’ second album – is a remarkable testament to Connolly’s affecting artistry. Anchoring the album is a desire to recontextualise the occasion and celebration of death. Drawing from elements synonymous with the country’s DNA: traditional sean-nós tunes, the Irish language and the omnipresent toll of the Angelus – the church bells that ring three times a day – RÓIS carries them into the modern day with her unique approach to melody and production as well as her electrifying vocal performances. The album explores the Irish pagan tradition of caoineadh, or keening which was an integral part of the mourning process, during which veiled women gathered around the body to sing and howl. Taking place over several days, these wakes became joyously unruly sessions during which music, dance and storytelling emboldened the essence of the deceased as they began a new chapter in their life cycle. These traditions were suppressed as the Catholic Church decreed a total termination of all public lamentation. Later, the impact of colonisation sealed its fate through the decimation of the Irish language, and by wiping out rural communities that kept the tradition alive. Across MO LÉAN, RÓIS throws open the doors that tried to hide away such inherent and important ways of Irish life.
Conjuring the ghosts of old Ireland through the sean-nós style is amplified by RÓIS’s immersive live shows, where she performs dressed in black, her face covered by a veil, a symbol of anonymity, grief and a reminder of the keener’s role to mourn a body and guide their soul to their next stage. On the consideration poured into her live shows, RÓIS notes: “I wanted to do something more conceptual. I wanted to set the gig at a funeral. There were accounts that, in Pagan times, the Wake would have been a debaucherous affair. I wanted to bring that to my music and the show because I think we need to unsterilise how we see death and how you have to be mannered.”
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
