Ye Vagabonds have released the film for their recent album Nine Waves, which is a visual accompaniment film to the folk duo’s recent release, made in conjunction with production company Tiny Ark.
It was previously shown at the Lighthouse in March.
Nine Waves is a visual postcard of the sound world that the album inhabits, primarily based within a derelict building in Dublin, and on location on the island of Arranmore, off the coast of Donegal.
The film features the band’s collaborators Alain McFadden (All the Brave Hunters), Cormac Begley, Ryan Hargadon, and Kate Ellis and Caimin Gilmore of Crash Ensemble as guest musicians, alongside a cast of dancers Stephanie Dufresne and Cristian Enmanuel Dirocie, and Arranmore bar owner Jerry Early.
FILM CREDITS
Director – Alex Delap
Producer – Liam Harkin
Assistant Producer – Daniel Moynihan
Director of Photography – Leon Forristal
C-Cam – Saoirse Johnson Gaffey
1st AC – Colm Moore & Saoirse Johnston Gaffey
Drone Operator – Colm Moore
Editor – Ronan Fox
Colourist – Leon Forristal
Audio Mix – Brían Mac Gloinn
Musicians
Brían Mac Gloinn
Diarmuid Mac Gloinn
Alain McFadden
Cormac Begley
Kate Ellis
Caimin Gilmore
Ryan Hargadon
Film Concept by Alex Delap, Brían Mac Gloinn, Diarmuid Mac Gloinn & Rich Gilligan
Featuring
Jerry Early
Stephanie Dufresne
Cristian Emmanuel Dirocie
About Ye Vagabonds – Nine Waves
Nine Waves was recorded in the Dublin Mountains at Hellfire Studios, produced by John ‘Spud’ Murphy (whose previous work includes records by black midi, Lankum and caroline). The album features 11 tracks of both traditional and original songs and tunes.
Nine Waves follows the duo’s standalone single I’m A Rover, which won them an RTE Radio One Folk Award for Best Traditional Folk Track. Ye Vagabonds were also named Best Folk Group for the second time at the 2021 ceremony, where they hold the record for most awarded artists.
The brotherly harmonies and multi-instrumental abilities of Diarmuid and Brían Mac Gloinn were joined on Nine Waves by Kate Ellis (cello) and Caimin Gilmore (double bass), both members of the Irish contemporary classical group Crash Ensemble, and Ryan Hargadon (Anna Mieke, Rachael Lavelle, Kojaque) on piano and saxophone. The record also features concertina from Cormac Begley, and harmonium from regular touring member of Ye Vagabonds, Alain McFadden.
Speaking of the album, Ye Vagabonds say:
“This album is dedicated to the memory of Andrew Early, Fuad Nahdi and Fatima Abbas, to their remarkable friendship, wisdom and humour.
In March 2021, surrounded by plants and instruments at Brían’s place in Wicklow, a shape started to emerge from writing we’d done over the course of two years.
Small birds kept tapping on the windows of the house while we wrote and recorded demos.
The following September, Spud helped us to capture and craft the nine songs and tunes on this album. Tuaim and Fuaim were improvised in-studio by Alain, Kate, Caimin and ourselves.
At any other time, for various reasons, we couldn’t have written these songs. We might have written others but not these.”
