Be it established that, as the opening track of Tau and the Drones of Praise‘s Misneach makes plain in its title and hooky chorus, “It Is Right to Give Drones and Praise.” The third full-length and Glitterbeat Records label debut from the so-Irish-they-record-in-Berlin psychedelic world folk outfit blends the terrestrial and the ethereal to such a degree as to be a walking contrast united most of all by its seeming impossibility in addition to its underlying craft. Group spearhead Seán Mulrooney — guitar, vocals, songwriting, and so on — is a factor in bringing it all together as well across the eight-song/35-minute foot-on-dirt journey that is the record, but around his voice circles a breadth of arrangement and purpose that runs from nature-worship and not-quite-new-age-but-not-quite-not, gather-the-tribes mysticism to traditionalist Celtic folk and a final message of hope so vital that, yes, the song is actually called “Hope.”

Songs have their respective foundations in acoustic guitar or piano,  some feel born of the vocal melody, as with the side B leadoff “Ceol ón Chré,” but the scope of Misneach — for which I wrote a dud of a bio; I believe compensated; I should keep better track of these things — is such that everything becomes more. “It is Right to Give Drones and Praise” is the longest song as well as the leadoff (immediate points) at 5:51, but whatever the length of a given piece is, there are realities being made and unmade here. The smooth incorporation of layers as “It is Right to Give Drones and Praise” builds toward its first verse, the opening line, “I am the tree,” and Mulrooney continuing to work from that Loraxian point of view, tells you a lot, and the music becomes a part of the message across all that follows, whether it’s the chanting in “The Sixth Sun” — don’t let me do your Googling for you, you go right ahead and read up — or the sweet banjo-esque plucks and electric fuzz in “Thunder Thunder Hummingbird,” leading to the graceful, chime-inclusive chorus there.

Surrounding Mulrooney throughout is a cast of regular contributors and guests totaling some 16 players, but the amorphousness is part of what makes Misneach so engaging, as well as the ability to hear something new seemingly in each repeat listen, whether it’s “It Is Right to Give Drones and Praise” speaking to Velvet Underground or the wow-who-knew-it-could-be-done non-exploitative worship of femininity that persists in cuts like “Ériu” or “The Sixth Sun,” the sense of earth as mother and more than that ultimately simple archetype. The flutes and dance-in-field vibe of “Na Heilimintí” are gorgeous and insistent, energetic and live-sounding, and there are enough voices working at it by the end that a whole community seems to be singing. These atmospheres are purposeful and lush, but at the same time, Misneach is unflinchingly organic, and that too is essential to the impression it makes. If “It is Right to Give Drones and Praise” is the thesis through which the heart of the album is laid bare, “Ceol ón Chré” as a counterpart is likewise crucial both for its near-mandatory singalong inclusiveness and the spaces it leaves open, even with Irish singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey starting it off and taking part in what unfolds and Clannad‘s Pól Brennan adding flute to the procession.

“Bandia” offers a bit of attitude to coincide with its acoustic guitar strum — the “crowd goes wild like pink lemonade” — and the talk of an elder setting the sun makes at least a nice verbal complement to “The Sixth Sun” if its coming from somewhere else thematically. Its sound is likewise reflective of sunshine musically, a bright melodic wash of vocals before the verse adding to the classically psychedelic feel, though part of the appeal with Misneach is its ability to stand outside of time and genre. It is here there this that now then soon, speaking to ancients instrumentally with a message of a brighter consciousness for tomorrow. “Bandia” is less directly earth-mystical than “Na Heilimintí,” and markedly less Irish — Tau and the Drones of Praise have always woven through traditions from Ireland, South America, the Middle East, never so clear-headedly as in these songs — but for that rests well between “Ceol ón Chré” and “Ériu,” which pulls back some of the backing vocals and is essentially a flowing three-minute love letter to Mulrooney’s home via the goddess representing the land.

In some ways, its flourish of jazz, psychedelia, classic folk-prog and ‘world’ music is a fitting summary of Misneach, at least in mindset if not sound, but there isn’t really a single track that accounts for the entirety — there’s just more happening throughout than that, even if “It is Right to Give Drones and Praise” is the mission statement. “Hope” might also argue in its own favor. Certainly the closer is a standout, with its more gradual unfurling, graceful bounce, chants to one’s ancestors and posi-vibing resolution around the word “hope.” If nothing else, it underscores a commonality shared between the tracks of message and purpose. These are not haphazard songs about sitting in the sunshine. They are not unconsidered. “Thunder Thunder Hummingbird” feels light, perhaps suitably airy, and feels simple at the outset with just the one prominent vocal from Mulrooney before it hits into the chorus, but the lyrics are talking about receiving a healing blessing from nature, telling the listener that what that thing is that humans constantly seem to be seeking is already around us in nature. And at least so far as I can tell, it’s not a metaphor for casual sex, though even if it was I’m not sure that would make the point any less valid.

The flute and chimes in “Na Heilimintí,” the organic bass in “Ériu,” the whoops and shouts amid the ending choral movement of “The Sixth Sun” — these all become more familiar with time and they become part of the cosmic joy that Misneach ultimately proves itself courageous enough to radiate. Without getting into some heavy-handed diatribe about living in an age of woes, mostly of humanity’s own making, I’ll simply note that the message of love, hope and wisdom through the land is a welcome, beautiful counterpoint. And if in hearing it one takes away and internalizes a bit of the escapism, nobody’s going to be worse off.

Tau and the Drones of Praise, Misneach (2022)

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

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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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Glitterbeat Records website

It’s right to give drones and praise. And a prime opportunity to do so will arrive this October with the advent of the third Tau and the Drones of Praise LP, Misneach, on Glitterbeat Records. The band, alternately based in Ireland and Berlin, Germany, and led by Seán Mulrooney, is expansive throughout the album, but as far into the spiritual or the cosmic as they go, there’s always a tie to the land and various folk musics it has produced. It’s a gorgeous record. There’s a bio I wrote for it that I might try to post at some point between now and when the album arrives, but I’m telling you as someone who’s lived with it for a while now that it is very much a record to be lived with, and the more you know the songs, the readier you are to join them in their collective sense of wonder and everything-worship.

Some of the material on Misneach also showed up in the recent Tau and the Drones of Praise live album, Tau Presents: ‘Dream Awake’ Live at Roadburn Redux (review here), so if you want to get a preview, that’s a good way to go. But the studio record pushes further, is more open — there are no fewer than 16 different players involved — and wears its heart not so much on its sleeve but as its entire outfit. I’ll have more to say about it before the Fall, I’m sure. The live album and the original livestream are both at the bottom of this post if you want to dig in.

The band posted the following on socials:

Tau and the Drones of Praise – Misneach – Glitterbeat Records

We have signed @glitterbeat_records!

My friends believe in the power of visualisation. Don’t let anyone ever tell you it is not possible.

I was told labels are not singing bands during the pandemic.

I was told you need to send them a fully finished album.

On the light of the full moon about a year ago, I sent one track to Chris Eckman label boss, he answered me right away and we began dialog.

This is my favourite label, I knew in my bones it was the right fit. It took us a while to sign the deal but its done.

I am eternally grateful for this new opportunity, as is the ever evolving Drones of Praise. Our album MISNEACH is done, vinyl is in production and it is coming out in Oct.

This means the world to me. It is my spiritual path to share this music to the world. I am humbled by anybody else who supports this vision, we support each other. That’s how it works. There are no rules in art, make it as you flow.

Thank you so much Glitterbeat Records and all the TAU family.

To Sonia for your unwavering, unconditional love.

See you on the road, the path is open.

Do mo Ghoalta go lèir
For all my relations

Photo Laura Zlocka

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Tau and the Drones of Praise, Tau Presents: Dream Awake Live at Roadburn Redux (2022)

Tau and the Drones of Praise, ‘Dream Awake’

Life takes you to unexpected places, and if you’re alive, that’s probably something you already know. I’ve been to Sligo, Ireland, where singer-songwriter Rainbow Starlight is situated, and it vibes like a place where magic might actually happen. I don’t just mean that it’s beautiful, though it is, but with its worn hills and long-stretched landscape, it’s easy to get lost in the thought of it being a place of old knowledge. If you were going to tie a Gaelic version of the Hail Mary into the pagan roots of Christianity as an exploration of reformed organic folk, as Starlight does here in the company of Pól Brennan and Seán Mulrooney, it might be the kind of spot where that would happen.

So it goes that the title “Ón Mháthair” translates to English as “from the mother,” and the eight-minute unfurling of the track takes place indoors and out in the accompanying video. Mulrooney, also of Tau and the Drones of Praise, recently took part in the Roadburn Redux virtual fest, and had Brennan sit in with the band as a part of that. I don’t know when that was filmed in relation to this, but there’s plenty of Springtime mist and clouds as Starlight takes a deep breath, sees the world go from black and white to full color, and seems to try to bring the essence of the place — Knocknarea, as you can read below — into herself. If you want a magic vibe, there it is.

Patient natural drone, guitar, percussion, some flute for good measure, and everyone’s voices coming together around Rainbow Starlight‘s own, “Ón Mháthair” is a subtly varied but all the more lush for that stretch of melody and ambience. I’ll readily admit my connection here is Tau — who I hear have finished recording their next album, by the by — but the piece as a whole is beautiful and engrossing and if you’re up for giving it a chance, I think you’ll find much the same.

More info on the release follows, courtesy of the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

Rainbow Starlight, Pól Brennan and Seán Mulrooney, “Ón Mháthair” video premiere

Clannad’s Pól Brennan and Seán Mulrooney from Tau collaborate with singer-songwriter Rainbow Starlight to release a haunting new version of the ‘Hail Mary’ as Gaeilge.

Release Date: Summer Solstice, 21st June 2021

Inspired by the multi-faceted and complex spiritual traditions of Ireland, Sligo-based singer-songwriter, Rainbow Starlight has composed a powerful and ethereal melody for one of Ireland’s best loved ancient prayers, ‘Sé Do Bheatha a Mhuire’.

Starlight says “We have experienced many waves of imperial and religious conquest in Ireland and despite concerted efforts to remove the essence of the Feminine from the collective psyche, the spiritual connection of the Irish people to the nurturing energy of the Feminine has always endured. During pre-Christian times this was expressed as a deep appreciation for the cycles of nature and Irish Goddesses such as Brigit and Maebh. In our more recent history, it has manifested as a continued reverence for Mother Mary and St. Brigid.”

It is the enduring connection of the Irish people to the Feminine that Starlight wanted to represent with this song. Clannad’s Pól Brennan says “One of the reasons we have lost our way in the world today is because we have lost our connection to the Feminine.” Seán from Tau adds “Unless we restore our connection to nature and begin to truly honour the Feminine, our trail of destruction will continue to blaze.”

The trio were united by a shared wish for healing and harmony in the world, each bringing their unique musicality and essence to craft this stunning piece. Starlight says “This song calls to everyone on this island of Ireland and across the world to reclaim our essence as balanced humans, to stand strong and to walk together on this beautiful Earth with sovereignty of heart.”

‘Ón Mháithair’ (‘From the Mother’) was recorded live in the Chapel of Ease, Dublin in December 2020 and shot on the sacred mountain of Knocknarea, Co. Sligo, where Queen Maebh’s Tomb lies on the summit. The video and song work beautifully together to bring forth the golden thread of the Feminine that runs through Ireland’s ancient past and present alike.

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