The new album from Tau and the Drones of Praise, Misneach — the group’s third full-length and first for the wowie-zowie, world-psych, gosh-this-is-a-really-good-fit-for-this-band Glitterbeat Records — will be released on Oct. 21 and today brings a video for the opening track and lead single “It is Right to Give Drones and Praise.” The first words in the track and on the record tell you the story: “I am the tree.”

That lyric, delivered by vocalist/guitarist/songwriter/spearhead Seán Mulrooney — who works throughout the LP in close collaboration with an overwhelming-on-paper-but-fluid-sonically upwards of 20 players/guests — in some ways frames the entire perspective of the record. It is not only the voice of the land, but the spirit of the non-human lives that inhabit it. “I am the three.” Same tree the Queen cut down to build warships. Same tree as your cradle was made from. Same tree that built your house. Same tree your coffin will be made from. Mulrooney lays it all out front to back.

This moment, this song, is not only a call to realization of one’s place in the world, but to embrace both that breath you’re taking and the air that comprises it, and while Misneach goes far, far out in sound with an otherworldliness that’s psychedelic and devotional in kind, it remains ever tied to the land and to human experience within it. It is a celebration, urgent in the message of its own celebration, but there’s very little about it one would call a preach. The tree says, “come back to me,” but apart from that bit about the Queen, there’s very little judgment happening either in “It is Right to Give Drones and Praise” or elsewhere on Misneach. It’s not that kind of trip.

Since we’re still three months out from the release and then some, I imagine this isn’t the last time I’ll write about Misneach before it comes out. I was fortunate enough to write the bio for the record, so I’ve been sitting with it for a while now and there’s plenty to say, except perhaps just how wonderfully alive it is. If I get hit by a bus tomorrow or a piano falls on my head or I go get a real job or whatever, at least I got to say so. These moments are precious. To be appreciated and lived.

Enjoy the clip:

Tau and the Drones of Praise, “It is Right to Give Drones and Praise” official video

Taken from “Misneach” (out 21 October 2022, Glitterbeat Records)
Preorder/stream: https://idol-io.link/Misneach

Original song written by Seán Mulrooney
Filmed and edited by Kyle McFerguson
Additional footage by Karolina Zlocka
Costume and animation by Eva Garland
Animation and co direction, Dee Mulrooney

“Misneach” (noun)
From Old Irish “meisnech” (‘courage’, ‘spirit’)
“Misneach” encompasses a blend of courage, hopefulness, bravery and spirit.

The kaleidoscopic third album from Seán Mulrooney and his Ireland meets Berlin ensemble. Ecstatic folk-psych that full embraces the natural world and living ancestry, through joyful experimentation and deeply rooted sonics.

An inspired soundscape that echoes eclectic and eccentric atmospheres: traditional Irish folk, outsider pop, global sacred music and drone rock.

Features guests from Tindersticks, Clannad as well as Irish troubadour Damien Dempsey.

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Tags: Glitterbeat Records, Ireland, Misneach, Sligo, Tau and the Drones of Praise, Tau and the Drones of Praise Misneach

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 12th, 2022 at 6:49 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.