GILLEBRÌDE MACMILLAN

This is his second album, entirely composed by him. Gillebrìde comes from the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. He comes from a family very involved in Gaelic culture, his mother language is of course Gaelic and traditional songs have always been an important part of his family. He is a lecturer at the University of Glasgow, but he is also a singer, songwriter and composer, notably of film music.

On Sèimh - The State of Calm, he wrote all ten tracks, songs that tackle subjects as diverse as the women's struggle in Nicaragua ( Tog Suas!), the Manchester bombing in May 2017 (Chì mi thu), a shipwreck in Stornoway in 1919 (Chaill i a faclan) or the journey of American folklorist Margaret Fay Shaw to Uist and Barra (Thàinig i ann).
Throughout the album, Gillebrìde is ably assisted by some of the best female singers in the Scottish tradition: Karen Matheson, Maighread Stewart and Mairi MacMillan. And then a handful of musicians on whistle, piano, guitar, fiddle or percussion, and even a soprano sax on Meadhan - oidhche, (Midnight on the machair, a coastal pasture very present in the Hebrides).
Add to this a discreet recording of seals on one track and you have an album that sounds quite contemporary yet rooted in tradition.
With a warm and melodic voice that knows how to be gentle, G. MacMillan delivers a thoughtful, soothing album that reflects the calmness announced in its title.

Autoproduit DEALA003 - www.gillebride.com