Imeall
| Imeall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Studio album by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | 28 December 2008  12 February 2009 (worldwide) (See release history) |
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| Recorded | 2007–2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Studio | Manus Lunny's Stiúidió na Mara, An Bhráid, Tír Chonaill, Na Rosa (The Rosses), Co. Donegal, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Length | 57:25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Moon (ref.: Moon1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer |
Manus Lunny Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh |
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| Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh chronology | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The Irish Times |   |
| Hot Press |   |
| UK Folk Music | favourable |
| The Irish Echo | very favourable |
| Trad' Mag | |
| Last Night's Fun (blog) | very favourable |
Imeall (Irish Gaelic for "Edge", "Rim", "Threshold") is Irish musician Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh's debut (and to date only) solo album, self-produced on her own label "Moon" and released physically as a (numbered) limited edition in late 2008 / early 2009 and digitally available through her official website (after 20 years of recording with her band Altan).
Imeall was recorded in 2007/08 in Stiúidió na Mara ("Seafront Studio") (An Bhráid, Tír Chonaill, Co. Donegal, Ireland), the home studio of Ní Mhaonaigh's friend and musician/producer Manus Lunny, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Donegal mountains and islands.
The album features many of Mairéad's friends and regular collaborators including Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill and Dónal Lunny. It also includes Manchester-born piper and flute player Michael McGoldrick and Annbjørg Lien, a member of String Sisters, with whom Mairéad plays fiddle and sings.
Only 3000 (handwritten numbered) physical copies of Imeall were pressed. The physical album is now sold out but a digital edition is available (as a downloadable mp3 album) directly from Mairéad's webstore.
Imeall received a four star album review (out of 5) from The Irish Times' journalist and Irish music critic Siobhan Long, stating: «There's a huge sense of exploring new pastures on Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh's solo debut. A limited edition, lovingly produced by Mairéad and Manus Lunny, with a bespoke design quality, Imeall is exactly that: a snapshot of an artist on the brink of something new, of terrain yet to be travelled.»
Ní Mhaonaigh's debut album received a seven-star album review (out of 10) from Hot Press's music critic Niall Stokes, stating: «From the first [track], you feel that you're in the midst of something intimate and enveloping. [...] It's a feeling that persists throughout a record full of beautiful melodies, fine singing, wonderfully sensitive playing and great tunes. Co-producer Manus Lunny set out with Mairéad to create a sound that would be different to Altan's, with whom Mairéad is the celebrated singer. The result is a collection of 14 tracks that manages to be both vibrantly contemporary in its colourings and yet deeply rooted in the tradition. [...] [T]he production is exemplary. [...] [T]his is Mairéad's masterpiece. [...] There's a purity of purpose throughout that should be a lesson to musicians of a more venal disposition. This is music made for the sake of the art, for the magic of being in the moment making an unforgettable noise or for the sheer pleasure of telling a story eloquently through song. [...] Imeall is a very beautiful thing. Which is no surprise at all, when you think about it.»
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Wikipedia