Solas - 'For Love and Laughter'

There's a reason that Solas is one of the most popular Irish music groups in the world: they deliver, every time. For Love and Laughter is further proof that Solas is quite literally one of the most talented groups of musicians currently performing. Add to that a high level of taste, the connections to summon up the best guest artists, and good ears for choosing tunes that allow them to maximize their skills, and you've got yet another amazing chapter in the Solas discography.

My one complaint about For Love and Laughter is that the members of Solas are almost too good. Yes, they can own Rickie Lee Jones's "Sailor Song" and create a version that surpasses the original. Yes, they can do a couple of prog-folk duets with Canadian phenoms The Duhks and create something completely new yet cozy and familiar. Yes, they can create brilliant sets (medleys) made up of traditional tunes and tunes of their own creation. This prolific genre-crossing ability results in a bit of a lack of cohesiveness here, and the album doesn't flow as comfortably as you'd hope, and if you're looking for straight-up Irish trad, this is not the place to go.

Even with the lack of flow, though, the album is solid. For Love and Laughter is the debut of Solas's new singer, Mairead Phelan, whose voice is plain excellent. Her breathy mezzo-soprano shines on ballads "Seven Curses" and "The Gallant Hussar," and pairs nicely with the bluesy vocals of The Duhks's Sarah Dugas on "Merry Go Round." Winifred Horan's fiddle skills really shine on the opening set "Eoin Bear's Reel/Tune For Sharon/The Rossa Reel," and the album closer, the melancholy "My Dream of You." The boys in the band are no slouches, either: Seamus Egan's flute (among other instruments), Mick McAuley's accordion and Eamon McElholm's guitar and piano are the virtuosic glue that holds the album together.

Does Solas occasionally reach a little further than Irish trad fans might want? Sure, but they've got the chops to back it up. And though For Love and Laughter does feel a little bit shuffly and random, perhaps "transition" songs would just seem like unnecessary filler.