Dublin Abbey – “Aurora” | Progressive Rock Central.com

Dublin Abbey, is a Seattle’s Irish folk/rock band. They have returned with another great album, Aurora! They are self-releasing this album.

Dublin Abbey is made up of Emma Elder, a multi-instrumentalist, and singer. The many instruments she has mastered include, but are not limited to: flute, whistle, mandolin, and harmonica. Rick Mangan, is the lead guitar player. Patrick O’ Donin, is the bass player. Accomplished violinist Nadia Hope and drummer Eric Brillhart join the mix to capture an artsy folk sound that transcends into a theatrical and entertaining folk-pop-rock performance. Dublin Abbey actually has four singers, who take turns singing lead. Rick Mangan, Patrick O’ Donin and Emma Elder each sing about a third of the bands lead vocals. Nadiia Hope is currently singing lead vocal on “Moment”, but expect her to be singing more.

Aurora is a fine mix of new and original songs, with themes you may have heard from classic Celtic and Irish folk tales, as well as rock legends. The band brings the sound of Irish folk up to date with rock instruments, essentials, and themes to encourage accessibility for all.

Every track on the album is unique and full of intrigue and innovative rock-based Celtic sounds; that if you close your eyes, you can imagine walking through a grassy noll, or near the Cliffs of Moher, along the Irish Coast.

They pay tribute to some of the best parts of Ireland, including: “Connemara”, which is sung by Patrick; and includes some soft flute and acoustic guitar. It is a tribute to the foundational element of Irish culture on the western/Atlantic coast. Patrick sings, “Far out west. Somewhere near Connemara. There’s a road that leads

to nowhere. All the cobblestones that hold the bards apart are stepping stones to there. Do you feel? Yes I feel! All the others, they can’t hold a candle to the flame that’s waiting here!” Makes you want to pack up and head there today, eh?

“Sunday Mail”, is sung by Emma, and it reminded me so much of a 1960s, kind of Carpenter’s song. Absolutely took me back decades, to a good memory. Emma sings with a bouncy rhythm; and the pipes and soft drums accompanying, “Await a letter from my love. Postage due it never comes. Wait beneath a fading sun. Just like the Sunday Mail. Await a whisper from my love. Listen close it never comes. Wait beneath a fading sun. Just like the Sunday Mail “. A nice relaxing, but sad, Sunday song.

“Time Bomb”, is almost the exact opposite. It is a bluesey rocker, with electric guitar and soft drums. But it’s the lyrics that provide the warning of “Helter Skelter”, that’s influencing our hectic modern lives. Or is it about a powerful attraction? You decide. Rick sings, “There’s an element of danger. Like sleeping with a stranger. Something’s gotta change or it’ll all come apart. You’re ticking like a time bomb. It’s like kissing nitroglycerin. I kind of like the way it glistens. You’re giving me the shivers but I’m carrying on. Hold me closer give me shelter. Helter Skelter in your arms”.

“Anything”, takes us back to the light and airy sounds of the earlier music. More feelings of the 1960s sound which attracted me to this band in the first place. However, this time with some interesting commentary on some Irish legends. Patrick sings, “There’s Sinead on the radio. What’s she saying? Maybe blames the pope. Although we don’t choose. The hoops that we jump through. I’ll do anything for you. Somewhere wild. That’s where Oscar strays. Curious child, so the rumors say”.

“Spanish Arch”, is one of my favorite songs. It opens with soft flute and acoustic guitar. Emma sings this one. She sings, “Sail in past the Spanish Arch, beneath a waning moon. The Garda and the custom men, asleep within their rooms. Young men unload Armalites, to face the enemy. All afore to make our children free”. A story of legendary Irish history, about the generational fight to make Ireland whole and one country, without British rule.

“Hallowed Ground”, is one of the rockiest songs on the album. Patrick sings, with stronger drums and electric guitar, “Don’t know the day or the hour that it came. But it came hard, so hard… so hard. Find our way through these clouds and shrouds of gray. But it got dark, so dark… so dark. Tell me the secrets that we keep. Tell me of hallowed ground. Tell dreams that make us weep. Tell me of hallowed ground. Count the days that took us to this place. But it was far, so far… so far. Shall we stay or simply float away. Through these stars, these stars, these stars. Don’t know the day or the hour that it came. But it came hard, so hard… so hard. Find our way through these clouds and shrouds of gray, but it got dark, so dark… so dark”. The fight for this island has consumed many generations.

“Moment”, is a beautiful sounding song sung in Ukrainian, by Nadia. She sings, with soft drums and guitar accompanying, “You feel that the moment is passing without stopping it. You just have to taste all her playful threads. How treacherously time runs away from us like a ghost. It is impossible to return it… it is always little. Let time pass from us. You hear stop, you hear stop love, take your time – enjoy. You hear, jump into feeling, jump into my eyes, look gently. You see stars, you see flowers. Our dreams want to live. Love….Love…”. A wonderful song in memory of the many who have died, and that live, to keep Ukraine free from Russia.

“Rory O”, sounds like a more traditional Irish folk song. Emma sings, “And the days they come. Like the rivers they run. Through the green fields. Through my soul and the heartache keeps me falling. Me darling Rory O. And I’d wait for you. Forever it seems. My love is whispering low. But the heartache keeps me falling. Me darling Rory O”. A sad Irish love song.

Another of the best songs on the album is “Blood and Water”. It is another more traditional Irish folk song, full of Irish pride. Rick sings, “Blood runs thicker than water’s ever run. By the time I learned to breathe, I became my father’s son. And with the very first breath, I drew into my lungs, I inherited a legacy, I never will outrun. But blood runs thicker than whiskey’s ever run. By the time I’d learn to walk, I was all my father’s son. But with my very first steps, I took out on the run. I built my wings of paraffin and flew too near the sun. I landed with an echo ringing in my ears. They told me I’d inherited a river full of tears. An ancient raging river handed father down to son. But blood runs thicker than rivers ever run. Now somewhere back in Ireland. That river stoic leads, bleeds into the ocean, pours her soul out to the sea. Where the years of generations drift away on foreign tides. To find themselves a fallen from a distant child’s eyes”. A deep, and sincere, song of love for an Irish homeland.

“What Put the Blood”, is a sad song sung by Emma. She sings, “What put the blood on your apron girl. What put the fear in your eyes. Please tell me no lies down the scullery. The lord of the manor came to me said he saw us through the chamber door. Down the scullery lies a pool of blood, as cold and dark as he will ever be”. A sad murder mystery song.

“Pembroke”, is another Irish folk song. Patrick sings, with violin and soft drums, “All I’ve got to do is get to Pembroke. All I’ve got to do is make that boat. All I’ve got to do is get to Pembroke. And darling… I’m coming home. When I was a young lad. I left papers on the walk. Nearly every doorstop on the lane. How those empty articles, would talk and talk and talk. Clearly they had nothing left to say. Orders come from Belfast. Say we take the woe to them. Take the fight unto the English shores. Only then do we have hope. To bring them to their sense. Stop this stubbornness and end this war. Weary of the fog of war. I fall upon my knees. Jesus Mary Joseph hear my prayer. Somewhere near to Roslare. Will I finally find my peace. Tell me that redemption’s waiting there”. A powerful song of redemption and freedom.

“Cold, Cold, Ground”, is the album closer, and it is epic. It opens, with soft acoustic guitar, and drums. Then, some Latin Gregorian chants. Rick sings, “From the cold, cold ground you hear them singing hallelujah. It’s such a lonely sound, when they finally lay you down, in the cold, cold, ground”. Violin is added for and additional melancholic effect. Rick sings, “When the sky fell down. I only seen them talking to you. I knew you’d come around. When I saw you there face down on the cold, cold ground. When the sun fell down it wasn’t long before I knew you. I didn’t know your name, but I loved you just the same, when the sun fell down. From the cold, cold, ground, you hear them singing hallelujah!” The rhythm and feeling took me back to Leonard Cohen’s classic.

Aurora, is a great introduction to Dublin Abbey. You will feel the deep love this band has for Ireland and all of its history and music. They have been able to transfer the feeling for this deep-rooted folklore and its sounds, to the present, modern day. They make these stories both relevant and alive with emotion. Get Aurora today, and enjoy a journey of song, to the evergreen Isle.