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Written in Folk Roots issue 141, 1995

NA LÚA
Peliqueiro
Sons Galiza GF 1021-2 (1994)

Unlike some Galician bands, Na Lúa (“In the Moon”) reaches over the border to embrace some of the styles of Portugal; the first track, Expreso Rias Baixas, on this its fifth album, has a strong cavaquinho feel (though the instrument isn’t actually present). Then a lurch in the direction of hoedown in the title track, and another to mbira/Gallego fusion in Muiñeira de Nairobi, a pair of Galician gaitas over mbira and bass, with shouted vocals. (The band these days is back to an instrumental line-up, after the period of its third album, Ondas do Mar de Vigo, when it included singer Uxia.)
      Influences continue to jump around, but the overall feel is distinctively Galician, and though there’s still a synthesiser component to the band it doesn’t fall into the slush-wash trap that afflicted many Iberian bands for a time. (There were reasons for this, I suppose; glossy synth sounds were easier to dominate with in the typical outdoor gig, while acoustic instruments were much harder to amplify and keep in tune.) This is light and un-pompous, though perhaps a bit lacking in really interesting tunes.


© 1995 Andrew Cronshaw
 

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