THERE MAY BE ONLY TWO OF THEM, BUT THEY BREATHE AS ONE

ONE OF BRITAIN'S GREATEST LIVING SINGERS AND A BRILLIANT GUITARIST WHO PLAYS ON EMOTION.

Ríoghnach Connolly is the kind of singer who, after a few notes, freezes you and you immediately know that you won't move from your seat until the end of the concert. She has an absolutely intoxicating, unmistakably Irish voice, to which only a deaf man can remain indifferent, even if he sees in front of him a woman to whom he could, for some reason, entrust his own children. And hence another reason for your petrification: authenticity; the conviction that everything she sings, talks and jokes about - we apologize for the pathos - is, so to speak, true, even though you can hardly understand a word of her Manchester dialect and you look forward to her transitioning from a melancholy position to hoarse blues screams. Undoubtedly in tense moments, when the memories she sings about probably hurt her the most. And thirdly: you can never imagine Ríoghnach Connolly being accompanied in a chair by anyone other than Stuart McCallum, long-time guitarist of the nu-jazz band The Cinematic Orchestra and a personality of the contemporary British scene.
While the previous two albums were recorded by the duo with a band, the latest Land of My Other was the first time the two were left alone. The production was taken over by the famous American pianist Thomas Bartlett, a member of the group The Gloaming, among others. However, he took a reserved step back from the “most emotionally ruthless lyrics” and at times, in the duo’s intention to record “something serious and profound”, we feel him more than we hear him. What led Ríoghnach Connolly to such openness? In 2019, after giving birth to her daughter, she became seriously ill and then history caught up with her with the unexpected death of her father. At the age of twenty, she fled from Armagh, Northern Ireland, to Manchester, before it, that is, before the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. “On the album after his death, Ríoghnach unashamedly touched on her deepest roots, and I can’t imagine she would have been able to open up like this before,” said Stuart McCallum.
Although Ríoghnach grew up with Irish traditional music, playing bagpipes and flutes from a young age, she cut herself off from everything in Manchester and devoted herself to jazz. For example, with saxophonist Alabaster DePlume, she did not let herself be limited by genre: she performed with the jazz-swing group Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam and eventually formed her own funky-rock-folk crazy band Honeyfeet. Ríoghnach Connolly only came to know about her Irish origin in the ranks of Afro Celt Sound System: it was then that she and her mournful, soul-turning voice with references to the old sean-nós vocal style began to be talked about a lot, and then Stuart McCallum heard her, immediately followed her and soon they founded The Breath.
Then they were invited to play in Brighton, but they didn't have the fee for the whole band, so they played the concert with just Stuart and were surprised not only by the audience's response, but they didn't really understand what had happened, they just knew that from now on it would only be like this. The people from the Real World label liked it so much that they had no problem with the transformation of The Breath and just asked when there would be a sequel.
There are only two of them, but they breathe as one and there would probably be no other accompaniment than this simple accompaniment to the musical memories of their father and other stories. You'll find out for yourself. It will be an unforgettable experience, believe me.