The Lost Day - CD Album from The Haar

The Lost Day is a coming-of-age album, bursting with the poetic storytelling, heartbreaking remorse and hopeful anticipation that has become synonymous with The Haar’s authentic musical expression. Their honest, tender, yet epic iteration of traditional songs on this new album provides an extraordinary insight into the suffering, sorrow, hope and happiness of being a human.

Combining the staggering musicianship of Molly Donnery (vocals), Adam Summerhayes (fiddle), Murray Grainger (accordion) and Cormac Byrne (bodhrán), The Lost Day is a remarkable album from a band that has gained a loyal grassroots following, and are becoming one of the most in-demand and unique live acts in the UK and Irish folk scenes today. 

The music centres on the cinematic expression of classic traditional folk songs. Molly’s voice effortlessly moves from delicate tenderness to powerful grittiness as she unfolds these familiar stories with a raw honesty that is rare. Molly’s voice is not alone in telling these stories, but rather one part of a quartet of highly refined musicians, interacting as an expressively nuanced chamber ensemble. Together, they create unique soundscapes through which the words are woven. Summerhayes’s fiddle playing explores a distinctive colour palette only made possible by his endless search for novel playing techniques to express his vast musical ideas. It is particularly notable that he plays on a violin by Stradivarius, a violin maker known for producing the world’s greatest and most expressive violins, usually the preserve of classical music soloists. It would be a challenge to find another folk album played on such a rare violin. Summerhayes’s expression is matched by the epic soundscapes produced by Murray Grainger’s piano accordion playing. Grainger provides weight and depth of sound that is nothing short of symphonic. His ability to play expressive melodic lines while unpinning the songs with rich and velvety harmonies is made possible with his self-designed instrument which has vastly expanded the accordion’s voice. Added to this, Cormac Byrne’s distinctive bodhrán playing seemingly defies what is possible with such a humble instrument. Byrne has long pioneered an expressive and melodic bodhrán playing style, and he has made further sonic breakthroughs on this album. By using experimental multi-microphone and speaker techniques, he unlocks the intimacy of his unique sound world. His playing adds dynamism, expression, colour and raw visceral energy to an overall album sound that is breathtakingly cinematic.

Adam Summerhayes: “jaw-dropping virtuosity” (New York Times)

Cormac Byrne: “startling percussion work” (The Guardian)

Molly Donnery: “disarmingly sweet … her melodic wisdom belies her youth” (Irish Music Magazine)

Murray Grainger: “beautiful stuff” (BBC Radio 3)

The Lost Day was mastered by legendary mastering engineer, Jon Astley (Sting, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney), produced by The Haar, recorded and mixed by Murray Grainger (bodhrán mixed by Cormac Byrne).

NOTES
This is The Haar’s third album:
The Haar - 2020

Where Old Ghosts Meet - 2022

thehaar.ie 

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Any questions/interviews contact katie@fromthewhitehouse.com 07832 200980