Fiddle wielding wonderkid Daithi O’ Dronai has finished putting together his debut album and we felt it would be kinda rude not to have a listen. Instrumental Crosshair demands attention; it is a storming opener which instantly hooks the listener. Daithi uses his wily EDM production skills to morph the fiddle from its classic sound at the beginning of the track into the tense, furious beast it is by the song’s end. Daithi does not sing on the album and so instead he has amassed a range of vocal talents. London-based Raye sings on both Chameleon Life and Dream State; the former a summer anthem of gorgeous beats and heady lyrics; the latter a slower but equally engaging R&B tinged tune. Senita also appears twice; first on the addictive, impossible-not-to-dance-to, groove-laden Case Closed and then again on Golden Blush; Daithi’s most experimental track and one which relies more heavily on his penchant for dance music. Cork duo Young Wonder lend some Scandinavian influenced trimmings to Ribcage as Daithi sprinkles the song with Irish tradition in the shape of his beloved weapon of choice – the fiddle. Friend, collaborator and artist in her own right Elaine Mai brings the album its most reflective moment on the beautifully simple Look Right At Me.
Male vocalists get their turn on this laid-back dance album too – American Alt-RnB star Jesse Boykins sings over the unmistakable strings of the fiddle on Have To Go whilst Danny O’ Reilly lends his unique voice to synth-heavy title track In Flight. The album closes with the (almost) instrumental Target, a song that stacks beats on top of beats before finally letting it all go. The album may have taken three years to make but in that time Daithi met producer (and one half of the aforementioned duo Young Wonder) Ian Ring and decided to hold off and rework the album until he felt he could stand fully behind it. The collaboration has paid dividends – the result is an assiduously crafted, brilliantly realised piece of work. A truly stunning debut. Mr. O’ Dronai, take a bow!
In Flight is released on June 6 with a special launch in the Roisin Dubh, Galway, on that day.