www.shantalla.eu

After a break of six years, Shanatalla are back with a very polished album. They took a break from recording and touring in 2005 but fan pressure got them back to perform on an irregular basis around Belgium in 2009. The band features Gerry Murray on accordion, bouzouki, mandolin and whistles, Michael Horgan on uilleann pipes, flute and whistles, Joe Hennon guitar, Helen Flaherty - vocals, bodhrán, with Kieran Fahy on the fiddle and viola. The newest member of Shantalla is Simon Donnelly on guitar and bouzouki.

Our verdict is this is the best they’ve done so far, a mature and assured album, proving the worth of taking time out, it’s fresh and melodic and they sound like they are enjoying being back together again. We will have a full review in our 200th edition next month. Be warned when they brought out their first album is was number 2 in the US Celtic Charts for six months, they are that good.