Photo Credit: @fargos_photos
It may have taken ten years since their formation in 2016, but now Irish trio Chasing Abbey release their debut album Cyber Celt. We had a quick preview of a few of the tracks at TRNSMT Festival back in June when they played a solid half-hour set on the King Tut’s Stage.
Released via their independent label Culchie Kid Records, the thirteen-track record opens with the atmospheric Gorta, which translates from Gaelic as Hunger or Famine, a song that is very relevant to it’s subject matter. The chorus is very catchy “An phian ar fad, an phian ar fad” roughly translates to “All The Pain, all the pain”. Chasing Abbey stick to their traditional Irish roots on this one with Ronan Bell, Jonathan Byrne and Ted Conway all contributing to vocals and just about every instrument imaginable on this record.
T.a.L. is an abbreviation of Tiocfairh Ar La (Our Day Will Come), and already there is a definitive political sentiment among the lyrics of these songs. T.a.L. Ioronta has lovely banjo-style elements consistently playing in the background, with some head nodding electronic music, while Mar Sin is more on the traditional folk music side of things. The childhood friends from Tullamore, County Offaly have put so much hard work into this debut album, evident across tracks such as Greedy Pigs, Culchie and Aris Is Aris. As we near the end of Cyber Celt, Colonised Minds is one of the highlights across the whole of the album, while closing track Is Rud Crua is definitely one of the more upbeat offerings – you won’t be able to stop moving to this one.
There are so many bands right now keeping the flame lit for traditional Irish music, and Chasing Abbey can be added to that list with a very likeable debut album. After their recent sold-out shows in Dublin and Belfast, the trio are touring across the USA, the UK, Europe and Ireland between now and the new year. It’s a busy end to 2026 for the band, that’s for sure!
8/10
Written by: Alan Brown
