Between the Earth and Sky is the second studio album by Irish folk music group Lankum, released on 27 October 2017 through Rough Trade Records. It is their first album under the name Lankum and their first released on Rough Trade.[1] It received positive reviews from critics and peaked at number 17 on the Irish Albums Chart.
| Between the Earth and Sky | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 27 October 2017 | |||
| Genre | Folk | |||
| Length | 56:49 | |||
| Label | Rough Trade | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| Lankum chronology | ||||
| ||||
Critical reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.7/10[2] |
| Metacritic | 90/100[3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The Guardian |  [4] |
| The Independent |  [5] |
| The Irish Times | [1] |
| Record Collector | [6] |
Between the Earth and Sky received a score of 90 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on five critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[3] The Guardian's Jude Rogers wrote that Lankum "marry the rawness of the Watersons with the roar of Richard Dawson, and eerie drones plunge their coarse, clattering harmonies further into darkness" and that they "inhabit a harsh, uncomfortable world, but a vital one".[4] Mojo stated that the album's "raw, emotional heartbeat is laid bare at the onset", while Uncut felt that the band's "battery-acid sharp Dransfields harmonies and uilleann pipe drones ensure their second album is powerfully strange".[3]
The Independent's Andy Gill remarked that Between the Earth and Sky "offers an object lesson in how to perform old songs in new ways, without losing the essential sense of continuity that gives traditional music its timeless appeal".[5] Alex Neilson of Record Collector called the album the "perfect summation of this extraordinary ensemble – this is music tethered deep in the black, black earth whose only limit is the blue, blue sky".[6] Ian Maleney of The Irish Times wrote that the album "can feel a little safe" and "a little too tightly bound. The voices and stories captured here are undoubtedly powerful and necessary, and sometimes quite moving, but there's yet more hidden in the wilds and badlands of tradition than this record admits."[1]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "What Will We Do When We Have No Money?" | 5:49 |
| 2. | "Sergeant William Bailey" | 5:23 |
| 3. | "Peat Bog Soldiers" | 2:53 |
| 4. | "The Townie Polka" | 6:59 |
| 5. | "Bad Luck to the Rolling Water" | 5:18 |
| 6. | "Déanta in Éireann" | 8:14 |
| 7. | "The Granite Gaze" | 5:35 |
| 8. | "The Turkish Reveille" | 11:45 |
| 9. | "Willow Garden" | 4:53 |
| Total length: | 56:49 | |
Charts
edit| Chart (2017) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[7] | 17 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[8] | 26 |
References
edit- ^ a b c Maleney, Ian (27 October 2017). "Lankum's latest is potent and bitter, but blunt in places". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Between the Earth and Sky by Lankum reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ a b c "Between the Earth & Sky by Lankum Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ a b Rogers, Jude (27 October 2017). "Lankum: Between the Earth and Sky review – brilliant, raw, detonating folk". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ a b Gill, Andy (26 October 2017). "Album reviews: Joe Henry – Thrum, Gregory Porter – Nat 'King' Cole & Me, Bootsy Collins – World Wide Funk". The Independent. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ a b Neilson, Alex (8 November 2017). "Between the Earth and Sky". Record Collector. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Lankum". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 July 2023.