Just when you think that it is safe to go out in the woods again, along comes another album of traditional Scottish music to make you wonder if getting eaten by a bear would be such a bad thing after all. I jest, of course, for myself and many others are often captivated by the sound of the pipes so would “Na Caismeachdan” by John Dew provide the means to transport we listeners off into the glens once more?
John Dew is a recognised piper – and whistler too – and his technical and artistic skills are indeed evidenced on many of the songs on this album yet there is more here than simply meeting the expectations of the traditionalists. For one thing, John Dew has composed most of the music on his album and, whilst always true to the motivations and limitations of the genre, there is much more in the way of musical complexity to be savoured with his intention, I assume, being to evoke using all the magic that traditional music has rather than merely duplicate what has gone before. To that end, the use of that most expressive of musical instruments - the piano that is most ably performed by Michael Biggins - as a counterpoint to both pipes and whistles gives John Dew the opportunity to move his music closer to the intersection with the world of film soundtracks.
The sound of the pipes will forever stir any Scottish blood that might course through your veins and “Na Caismeachdan” has enough of that to make your heart beat faster yet, and despite this being only his second studio album, John Dew has also provided enough proof that his musical ambitions are targeted on the future rather than the past. So, if you let your mind wander where it will, you might well find yourself somewhere other than that highland glen.
Available from Bandcamp and the usual online places.