Solas, a five-member Irish band, will take you back to that bar you used to walk to in snowy Boston, the one where unassuming Irish fiddlers played in the corner for beer drinkers who scarcely noticed.
Those musicians, like Solas, performed with a gentle, calming lilt in the midst of a brawling world.
Much of Solas’ new release, “For Love and Laughter” (Compass), is instrumental, and this is where the band excels. The music doesn’t need words to tell a story, from the dark, sad and beautiful “My Dream of You” highlighting piano and fiddle, to the upbeat and fun “John Riordan’s Heels/Hoban’s White House/The Lisnagun Jig.”
Mandolin, guitar, banjo, low whistle, flute, fiddle, viola, cello, accordion and bodhran . . . all the instruments you would expect from an Irish band.
Where the band does use vocals, as on its poppiest tune, “Merry Go Round,” with Mairead Phelan and guest vocalist Sarah Dugas, the sound is childlike; the harmonies and lyrics are light and simple.
The CD’s title is appropriate. “Sunday’s Waltz” and “Tilly’s Jig/The Happy Traveler” sound like the music of lovers (intimate, yet playful), whereas “Eoin Bear’s Reel/ Tune for Sharon/The Rossa Reel” has a fun, casual feel. Whatever the tune, “For Love and Laughter” is music for a good friend and a good ale.
