When I was growing up in England, bagpipes were often subjected to ridicule. Whilst this could in part have been due to their tonal contrast with conventional pop music of the time, there may have also been the unthinking residue of anti-Scottish prejudice that led to the instrument’s widespread mockery. Fortunately, in recent months, Glitterbeat Records have brought to the fore a couple of albums that celebrate, in vastly different forms, the power of various pipes. AMMAR 808’s ‘Club Tounsi’ used Mezoued (goatskin bagpipes) as the melodic centrepiece of his heavy dance music while their latest release is from Brighde Chaimbeul, an exponent of Scottish smallpipes.
Her third album, ‘Sunwise’, is an atmospheric yet sonically varied collection which should encourage all prejudice to be cast aside. It is immersed in tradition, folklore and mystery but also has an experimental streak as exemplified by her continuing collaboration with Canadian saxophonist and composer, Colin Stetson. The variations extend to song length with opening track ‘Dùsgadh/Waking’ weighing in at over nine minutes whereas later pieces, ‘kindle the fire’ and the wonderfully named ‘The Rain is Wine and the Stones are Cheese’, last less than one minute.
The opening track is the first of three Chaimbeul compositions on ‘Sunwise’ and utilises the power of the drone to impressive effect. Listening to it as the unseasonal rain batters my windows enhances the impact, the clouds angry and apparently never-ending, conjuring the Scottish word, “dreich”, meaning bleak weather. Above the ominous drones is some more melodic piping which adds a brighter feel. The piece is meant to convey the beginning of winter, darkness creeping in with long and cold nights. There is a depth and power to the playing that makes it easy to understand how she has been rapturously received at what would initially seem the unlikely surroundings of the Supersonic Festival in Birmingham, an event that celebrates the experimental but with a bias towards the heaviest sounds. It is followed by her second lengthy composition, ‘A’ Chailleach’, based on a Celtic folkloric character, the Chailleach Bheurr who was associated with the uncomfortable aspects of the winter. The repetitious loops make this a compelling and trance-like track and Stetson adds to the whole sound; they combine so seamlessly that it could easily be one multi-headed beast of an instrument playing. Somewhat unexpectedly, over halfway through its seven minute plus duration, Chaimbeul sings what sounds like an incantation. Her voice makes a lovely addition to the song and is an underused weapon on the record.
With its atmospheric sounds of wind and the crackling of burning logs, ‘kindle the fires’, sounds exactly as its title suggests. ‘She Went Astray’ packs a lot into its 101 seconds, beginning with foghorn style blasts before layering a slippery melody with a vocal that emphasises the rhythm of its language. It is based on an old vocal dance song from 1934 by Miss Peigi MacRae of North Glendale (South Uist Island) and Chaimbeul’s interpretation has a mesmerizingly disorienting quality.
There is a much more frenzied quality to ‘Bog an Lochan’ (‘The Bog of the Small Loch’) which is taken from a traditional Scottish reel that is part of the Gaelic folk dance tradition. Unlike the preceding tracks, it suggests ecstatic dancing. Its inspiration is taken from folklore and the Gaelic Otherworld of Fairyland. While instrumentally much of ‘Sunwise’ is a solo album, an exception is ‘Sguabag / The Sweeper’ on which Chaimbeul plays live with three other pipers and the way their playing interweaves is incredibly vibrant before ending on a more ominous drone.
The final Chaimbeul composition, ‘Duan’, is more sombre and processional. It ends on a crackly recording of a spoken word contribution from her father, writer and broadcaster Aonghas Phàdraig, based on Hogmanay folklore of druidical origins about a disorderly procession that went three times sunwise around each house in the village with this rhyme being recited on the doorstep while being accompanied by a piper. Keeping it in the family, her brother Eòsaph joins her on ‘The Rain is Wine and the Stones are Cheese’, a song that marks the darkest and longest night of the year delivered in the style of canntaireachd, which is a means of vocalising bagpipe music.
As can be seen from the backstories, ‘Sunwise’ borrows heavily from myth, folklore and tradition. However, it is approached in a spirit of fearless experimentation that makes for a refreshing and unique album.
Brighde Chaimbeul: Sunwise – Out 27 June 2025 (tak: til / Glitterbeat)