Discography
Tribe - 2007
Tribe Reviews
CONNACHT TRIBUNE 21 September 2007
Luka Bloom has been releasing albums for nearly two decades, his unmistakeable sound making it difficult to compare him with anyone else. His guitar style could be described as electro-acoustic, came about when tendonitis forced him to swap fingerpicking style for his distinctive strumming. Bloom is a live performer of unique talent, a consistently commanding presence.
His latest album TRIBE is a collaboration with Simon O Reilly, a Clare based contemporary music writer. In 2005 Bloom heard O Reillys album TIDELINES and was so impressed by the instrumental compositions that he approached the Clare man with the idea of working together.
The resulting record is a beguiling collection of songs and soundscapes. TRIBE opens with the winning title track. O Reillys delicate music is matched by Blooms heartfelt singing and insightful lyrics.
Joyce lies in Zurich, Beckett lies in France, What anthem has the tune to their dance, Who is my tribe is it only green, Or is it in a rainbow of my dreams? wonders Bloom.
Sound follows and the signs are already good for this collaboration. TRIBE is not the worlds of electronica and folk colliding but more a fruitful meaning of minds. Both Blooms crystalline vocals and O Reillys subtle tones are given room to breathe thanks to David Odlum, the former Frames guitarist, who mixed the album. On the uplifting Change it sounds like Massive Attack have relocated to Ireland. The song is driven by a grinding bass line and Blooms optimistic lyrics, Everytime I fall down its a new beginning, Getting up again and again, trying to rise up, has more to love than winning, he sings. O Reilly contributes to instrumental numbers to Tribe - the cinematic Early Morning and the album closer, Beara.
The freedom to experiment is relished on TRIBE, particularly on Homeless where a homeless man leads Bloom to look inward. Men like him literally walk the line, he says, and men like me…well, we talk a good talk.
TRIBE is a bold album that deserves attention. 8/10
HOT PRESS 3rd October 2007
While some of his singer songwriter rivals seem to have lost their edge, Luka Bloom continues to craft richly literate albums that make little or no concessions to vulgar commerciality. That inventiveness can stretch to backward tapes, as on the wistfully searching title track of his latest, on which Blooms voice is appropriately restrained on as righteous a song against nationalism as you are ever likely to hear. Sound evokes autumn changing into winter, while Out There provides a gentle contrast with some of his more pointed lyrics. I am a River is a faithful take on a slightly hackneyed theme. Homeless is a Ginsberg-esque spoken paean to a man in California with thoughtful environmental overtones. Star of Doolin has charming fiddle from Yvonne Casey, while Change merges an infectious Celtic folk beat and mesmeric vocals to marvellous effect. Lebanon is just plain sad.
Bloom is partnered on this album by Simon O Reilly a multi-instrumentalist-cum-producer from Clare and their work blends so well its impossible to see the join. The interweaving of synths with Blooms usual musical palette means that he rarely strays too far from his musical roots, and yet he never lets them prevent him reaching out towards other cultures. Its even more remarkable to accept that the entire set was recorded without them ever sitting down together.
Bloom has never made a dud album, and on the form displayed here, thats not likely to happen anytime soon. Jackie Hayden 8/10
IRISH TIMES 7th September 2007
I have never really gotten used to the name change, he will always be Barry Moore to me, but Luka Bloom has never been short of bottle or imagination. That said, his new album pushes the boat out and is all the better for it. He and Clare musician Simon O Reilly agreed to work together after Bloom heard O Reillys instrumental work Tidelines in 2005. Fast forward to David Odlums studio in France and Bloom and O Reilly meet to produce TRIBE, a collaboration that stretches both artists. O Reillys moody electronic settings redolent of the Blue Nile, provides a new canvass for Blooms warm voice and his concerned and self-explorative lyrics. Bloom certainly rises to the challenge. Yes, it is occasionally overly self-conscious and even a tad awkward at times, but mostly there is a lovely late-evening tone to these twelve pieces.
Joe Breen 4/5 stars
Tribe Reviews
Music Australia Guide - Tribe Reviews - May 03, 2007
After a string of strong records, the voice of Ireland suddenly turns in a truly great one.
Featured on Music Australia Guide recommends www.musicaustraliaguide.com
The Age, Melbourne - CD Reviews - March 15, 2007
Initially this seems to be ideal music for an autumn afternoon. Each day the sun goes lower across the March sky, leaves are starting to change colour, the world is at the cusp of seasonal upheaval; there's an air of expectancy as winter approaches.
In Sound, Luka Bloom sings: "Walking through the winter trees / Naked branches in the loss of leaves / Naked in the wind and rain / No escaping winter's waiting game." In his mellifluous voice and easy melodies, Bloom and his collaborator Simon O'Reilly are making music that feels like balm for the soul - low-key but substantial, sedate without being sedentary, with enough jagged edges on songs such as Change and Out There to provide gentle contrast.
But under the surface this record pulses with notions of change and how it isn't generally easy. Indeed, on the beautifully placid title track Bloom sings: "All around the side streets, needles look for veins where bullets found their mark in old rebellions..."
Recorded in Dublin, this is Irish music that pays homage to its makers' roots in subtle ways, but mostly it's music for today. The spoken-word number Homeless and the dirge-like Lebanon hold out hope and despair in equal parts.
Jeff Glorfeld
www.theage.com.au/news/cd-reviews/tribe/2007/03/15
Readings Monthly - Your Independent Book, Music and DVD Newsletter - March 2007
Luka Bloom's albums are like comfortable old jumpers; they're familiar sounds that warm us on cold winter nights. On this new album, Luka describes in song how, now more than ever, individuals must learn to think of themselves as part of a single entity (the world) and not as members of a particular race or country. Communication on a personal level and not on a political or social level will see us through. The album is unique for Bloom in that it is a collaboration (with producer Simon O'Reilly). Bloom also only plays guitar on two tracks, favouring the use of some great guest performers.
Celtic Lounge - Saturday, March 17, 2007
Welcome to the lounge, sit down, put your feet up and sit back and let this new release from Luka Bloom and Simon O'Reilly flow over you like a warm cup of tea as you settle down with a good book. If you're familiar with Luka's music, here's a bit of a different twist to peak your interest and show the new paths that Luka has taken as a writer and performer.
Not one to usually collaborate in writing, performing, or recording, Luka has waited until finding just the right complement to the softer style that has come through in his more recent writing. He pairs, in writing and performing on this album, with Simon O'Reilly, an electric guitarist and multi-instrumentalist from Doolin, County Clare. They have a terrific fit, and the nuance of Simon's musical vocabulary goes well alongside Luka's own rich and substantial sound.
From expounding on the joys of singing the day away on Sound to an omage to meanderings of the Liffey on I am a River to a beat poet-esque spoken word tale of a Homeless man in LA, awakening in Luka his own misgivings about the affects his lifestyle have on the environment, the connection he has to the earth and the place his music holds in it is ever evident. Talking of change, he takes shifts gears and has what could well be a dance cross-over hit called Change, with its gritty celtic-driven backbeat and hypnotic vocal.
The production and instrumentation of the record is right in line with the vibrant and resonant sound that is so synonymous with Luka's music and features stellar performances from Kenneth Edge on the hauntingly beautiful call of a Muezzin on Lebanon, and the graceful fiddle of Yvonne Casey on Star of Doolin. The contrast of the synthesizers and keyboards that Simon O'Reilly brings to the table make for a heady musical banquet that is satisfying and refreshing throughout.
Alice Farrell
www.celticlounge.com
Tribe 2007
‘I hope that you at this moment will think of yourself as a human being rather than as an american, asian, european, african, or member of any particular country.
These loyalties are secondary.
If you and I find common ground as human beings, we will communicate on a basic level’.
Thus spoke the Dalai Lama.
These words are a good way to describe how I feel about this new record TRIBE, and especially the title track.
In Autumn 2005, I was sent a copy of Tidelines, an album of original instrumental music composed and recorded by Simon O’Reilly. Its a lovely record, but I immediately was intrigued with the possibility that Simon and I might do some work together.
I visited Simon’s studio in County Clare, and we hit it off. So over the next months Simon created music and sounds, and posted them to me to my home in Kildare. Not once did we sit and play together. I listened to simon’s sounds and created lyrics and vocal melodies based on his music.
After about 6 months, we felt we had enough material to make a record. At this point, I invited David Odlum to mix the record and record the vocals. david has recorded The Frames, and gemma hayes and many others for years. He works in Black Box, a remarkable rural studio in France.
The result is TRIBE, a unique project in my working life. I play guitar on only 2 tracks. For once in my working life I got to simply be a singer. Simon produced and co-wrote the record with me; and we also have some lovely guest performers, including a recording debut of my son Robbie, who does a cool backing vocal on the title track! Well done to all who helped complete this record. We hope the people love it half as much as we do!
Pedal on,
Luka Bloom
