Maeve Mackinnon

Stri

(own label)

ONE of two Gaelic singers who share the same name, this Maeve Mackinnon is the Glasgow-born one who is steadily establishing herself as a singer of real character with a liking for surrounding herself with arrangements that reflect current times and sounds while keeping a firm connection to the tradition.

Stri means to strive or struggle and many of the songs here are drawn from the waulking songs sung by hardy Highland and island women during long shifts at the tweed tables. Mackinnon delivers them with a quiet force that’s darkly expressive while producer Duncan Lyall’s arrangements for strings and electronica, supplemented by superb uilleann piping from Jarlath Henderson and whistle playing from Ali Hutton in a band sensitively driven by drummer Alyn Cosker, lend atmosphere and groove.

The one song sung in English, We’re Not Staying features former Chilean president Salvador Allende’s final broadcast setting the scene for a defiant chorus that chimes with the work songs from this side of the world, giving a sense of unity before Mackinnon’s gorgeous interpretation of Mo Cheist Am Fear Bàn, with Patsy Reid’s soul-stirring fiddle, ends the album on a note of utter, very affecting bereftness.