Iarla O'Lionaird

One of the reasons for the success of the 1996 release VOLUME 1: SOUND MAGIC by the Afro Celt Sound System was undoubtedly the magnificent contribution from Irish singer Iarla O Lionaird (pronounced ear-lah o- linnard).

Born in C¦il Aodha in Gaelic-speaking County Cork in 1964, Iarla has become Ireland's foremost sean nos singer, literally "in the old style", the unaccompanied music of Celtic ancestors, shrouded in the mists of time and handed down across the western seaboards of Ireland over generations. The young Iarla won every competition he entered across Ireland, becoming a celebrity in traditional circles. The mid 1980s found him at college in Dublin acquiring a growing reputation in the city's musical circles. He was in demand both as a singer and a teacher and by 1989 he was presenting the traditional music series The Pure Drop on RTE Television.

Iarla photo Yet he never felt fully at ease. "I was very aloof because I took my singing so seriously and I couldn't share it easily. A fiddler or a piper can go and join in a session but as an unaccompanied singer I couldn't do that. In Cork, sean nos singing is a kingly pursuit - part of the social structure. In Dublin I felt a bit removed because what I did was so different."

"I wrote to Real World and it was the only begging letter I have ever written in my life. It was six pages long and written by hand and it must have been almost illegible," says Iarla. He included a tape and was subsequently invited to participate in one of Real World's famous 'Recording Weeks' at the studios in Western England built by Peter Gabriel.

figurines It was at this event that Simon Emmerson, who was at the time putting together his Afro Celt Sound System record for Real World, called upon Iarla to sing. "That was brilliant. We've been so busy and it hasn't stopped. It allowed me to sing sean nos in the setting of contemporary club culture. It was such an intriguing blend, using primary colours to create a picture of sophistication," he says.

The success of the Afro Celt Sound System album meant that Iarla's projected solo album had to be put on hold for over a year, but eventually he entered the studio earlier this year with Grammy-nominated Canadian producer Michael Brook. "He's one of the first producers I've met who shared my vision, which was not to soften or sentimentalize the music but draw deeper from the heart - to take what is within and bring it to the surface. Everyone else seems to want to tart up the raw, ancient stuff to make it palatable. Michael comes from an experimental rock'n'roll background and didn't want to do that so observing this ultra-modern musician getting to grips with a deep, ancient approach was amazing."

The end result is a sound which is organic and timeless with Iarla's soaring voice bringing thrillingly to life the ancient culture of his ancestral spirits, a homage to tradition yet always fresh and innovative. "I was looking for a balance of groove and emotion," he says.

Iarla's restless creativity means that he is already planning his next move which he promises will be very different. "The most challenging thing for a solo singer is to work with other people. I'm not just going to croon along. I'm planning to work with Howie B and some Asian TripHop people to produce an album that says this is the 1990s and I enjoy living in them".

Yet wherever his endlessly inquiring musical spirit takes him, Iarla Ó Lionáird will never lose touch with his ancestral roots on the west coast of Ireland. "It's not an ordinary place," he says. "I honestly believe that I grew up in paradise.

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