Ships that visit with the tide: NoCrows return, Ray of light
NoCrows launch Why Us? in the HMV Soundgarden, Sligo on Thursday night, playing music from the album including this lilting gem of seascapery that harnesses by extension the power of the sea and in its navigation, monument, loss and distance. ‘Metal Man’, for instance, is a paean to the ghosts of the past, written by the band’s bassist-composer Eddie Lee and his Barinthus Suite close musical collaborator and writing partner drummer-composer David Lyttle. The evocative video (Ray Coen, main ‘metal soul’ vocal) was filmed at beautiful Rosses Point in the county of Sligo in the late-autumn, referenced in the folk song itself, as is, wryly, Irish traditional music icon Ronnie Drew, local beauty spot Coney Island and the ancient Sligeach guardian of Knocknarea, a connection with county Waterford and Tramore Bay made plain via the mysterious metal soul spirit in the smuggler-friendly waters. A community of family, friends and local people came together to make the scenery and tales of the metal man, myth and metaphor, burst into life. More on NoCrows: Waiting for the Tide review. Tickets