THE SOUNDTRACK OF ST. PATRICK'S DAY, 2014

MOJO, NPR MUSIC, THE INDEPENDENT, THE GUARDIAN, WNYC, BOSTON GLOBE, & Q MAG ALL HAIL RELEASE OF THE GLOAMING, OUT FEB 25 ON CD ON BRASSLAND

The Gloaming – a new group compromised of Martin Hayes (violin, fiddle), Thomas Bartlett aka Doveman (piano), Iarla O'Lionaird (vocals), Dennis Cahill (guitar) and Caoimhin O'Raghallaigh (hardanger fiddle) – has earned incredible notices with its debut, self-titled album, out now via digital download and February 25 on CD from Brassland. It debuted at #1 on the iTunes World Music chart and at #2 on Billboard's World Music chart and promises to be the soundtrack of St. Patrick's Day, 2014. Here's what we're reading:

"In short, this is the rare album that might well transform the syntax of a whole style… sheer beauty."
- Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR Music

"I already have to save room on my top ten list for 2014 for this next record… it is really terrific… There is something haunted and twilit about this album, very beautiful…"
- John Schaefer, WNYC New Sounds

"*****… Brilliant… a thrillingly original magic."
- Colin Irwin, MOJO

"*****… The Gloaming are a five-piece ensemble eliding Irish folk music with the contemporary New York art-music scene. The upshot is a rather ECM-ish well of open space irrigated by a flow of motifs, textures, tempos and, more abstractly, romantic yearnings." – Simmy Richman, The Independent (UK)

"Exquisite… Bravely contemporary… [They] have created a distinctive style of their own."  - Robin Denselow, The Guardian (UK)

"The Gloaming is a wonderful mix of soulful and passionate talents who have created their own genre."
- Peter Gabriel

"Enormously rewarding."
- Andy Fyfe, Q Magazine

"*****… Brilliantly innovative and executed with masterly conviction… An astonishing marriage of the old and the new in music as modern as it is ancient, as epic as it is intimate."
-Michael Quinn, Songlines

"*****…Exceptional… Remarkable [and] unique… [Paints on] a wider, more expansive canvas."
– Peter Quinn, The Arts Desk

"Masterful."
– Michael Andor Brodeur, The Boston Globe

"A milestone… This debut album lives up to the loftiest of expectations. The wonderfully virtuosic music is rooted in an ancient Irish tradition, no doubt about that, but there's an experimental flavour to the compositions that makes the album such an intriguing, arresting listen."
- John Meagher, Irish Independent

"*****… This is contemporary music making at its very best: unself-conscious, freewheeling and yet deeply thoughtful, revealing layer upon layer with each listening…  The Gloaming revel in wide open vistas and endless space. It’s as if each member has hankered after the company of players, all coming from distinctly different places, their knapsacks brimful of salty ideas, colourful whims and a fearless appetite for mining seams previously unexplored. With almost 60 minutes of free-flowing music to draw from, the listener is privy to a wide palette, defined more by shape and mood than tethered by genre."
-Sibhan Long, Irish Times

"Certain to become a landmark album."
- Colm O Hare, Hot Press