Calum Alex MacMillan

Till

Vertical

THE wonderfully expressive voice of Calum Alex MacMillan re-emerges – following his departure from the Gaelic group Daimh – after a gap of five years, with these songs and tunes gathered on his native island of Lewis.

MacMillan’s father, John sang with pioneering Gaelic group The Lochies and he shared his own collection of material with Calum Alex in singing sessions round the kitchen table during the latter’s return – or "till" in Gaelic – home in recent years. This possibly has some bearing on the sense of intimacy that radiates from songs such as Fagail Shiadair, where the heartbreak endured by its writer, the Lewis bard William MacKenzie as he settled in Canada following the death of his wife, can be felt through MacMillan’s beautifully sensitive reading.

Produced by Donald Shaw, the album features a dozen guests, including singers Julie Fowlis and James Graham and violinist Greg Lawson and cellist Robert Irvine as well as Shaw himself on piano and harmonium, but the arrangements always put the focus entirely on MacMillan’s voice and smallpipes playing on tune sets. Shaw’s lovely understated piano line adds to the poignant longing of Nam Faighte Long Dhomh, a stand-out track in a collection of gems.

Rob Adams