When you think of Irish dance music, a vision of reels and jigs might immediately spring to mind, but there is an evolution taking place and one Donegal based singer-songwriter is to the forefront of this musical reawakening.
Carol Wilson from Meenaleck, now living in Rathmullan, has released Grá this St. Brigid’s Day. The dance track which has a captivating energy is already creating a lot of ‘grá’ in the Irish music scene.
Carol has to date released seven singles, an album (Trouble Me, 2021) and an EP (Live at the Balor, 2023). She is currently working on her second album ‘Magnolia’ and recently placed in the top three of Music Capital’s International Singer Songwriter Competition.
She can be found performing at the regular ‘Frida Friday’ music nights at An Stad, Rathmullan, which she co-founded and hosts. But it was at Full Tilt Studios where she was recording her original song, ‘Grá’, that the idea of turning it into a dance track suddenly came to her.
Grá by Carol Wilson is out on Spotify now
“I’ve worked with Tommy Conway many times before at his recording studio, and knew instinctively that he would understand what I was reaching for”, said Carol. “It was an exciting collaboration and I was delighted with the end result.”
What came out of those studio sessions for the recording of ‘Grá’, has the evocative sweep of a music score; the lyrical yearnings of a traditional Irish ballad; underpinned by a compelling beat that will make you want to jump up and dance, or bounce at the very least.
“I’m from the Gaeltacht and have always had a deep love for the Irish language, so I’m excited to finally be releasing a song in our native tongue”, Carol says.
The song’s release is accompanied by a music video shot in the historic Battery site in Rathmullan with videographer, Jeffin Varghese. “Although it was freezing, shooting in just a dress on a cold December day, overall we’d loads of fun making the video, getting creative and coming up with ideas as we went along. It’s a stunning old building, steeped in character and history, so along with the cold, it was the perfect setting and atmosphere for the dramatic feeling of ‘Grá’.
Watch here:
‘Grá’ is out now and Carol will celebrate its release with a live performance at the Imbolc Frida Fridays tonight, February 2nd at 7:30pm at An Stad, Rathmullan, and then again at Imbolc Mini Mouthpiece in the Cottage Bar Letterkenny on February 7th.
Stream on Spotify here:
