Fans of modern Irish folk music and gin-supping troubadours would be well advised to check out the new album by Declan de Barra, which is called ‘ A Fire to Scare the Sun’. Declan’s plaintive vocals lead all the tracks, with the music – though cinematic – kept at just the right level in the mix.

The album features guest musicians Brian Hogan from Kila, Cora Venus Lunny, James Dunne from the RTE Symphony Orchestra and cellist Mary Barnecutt, so Declan’s in very good company.

Declan’s bio is quite the read – he nearly lost his arm at a KISS concert and described writing the album as like “pulling teeth with rusty pliers”…!

In 2008 I recorded “A fire to scare the sun” in the same abandoned room I recorded my first album. I would love to say it was an easy process but it was like pulling teeth with rusty pliers and then shoving them back in again after dipping them in salt. Paralysis by analysis. Sometimes you have to say “Fuck it, it is what it is…shut the fuck up and play”. So after months of agonizing over this word and that note I just went in and played. I let the songs be themselves without worrying. I sat back and realized I had “A fire to scare the sun”.

Find out more here:

You can stream the album here: http://declandebarra.bandcamp.com/