Isthmus | |
Type: | studio |
Artist: | Seamus Ó Muíneacháin |
Cover: | Seamus_omuineachain_isthmus.jpg |
Alt: | Album cover for "Isthmus" by Seamus O'Muineachain. The image was created by artist Mona Power. |
Recorded: | 2022 |
Genre: | Neoclassical new-age music |
Length: | 26:30[1] |
Label: | Ghost Home Recordings[2] |
Producer: | Seamus O'Muineachain |
Prev Title: | Different Time Zones |
Prev Year: | 2022 |
Isthmus is the sixth studio album by Irish ambient musician Seamus Ó Muíneacháin.[3]
Isthmus was recorded after O'Muineachain returned to Ireland from the Czech Republic, and was inspired by the landscape of the Erris region.[4] The album features field recordings and collaborations with cellist Akito Goto.[5] The album had its radio premiere on The Stephen McCauley Show on BBC Radio Ulster on 30 August 2022.[6] The lead single "Lost Fishermen" was broadcast on KEXP,[7] An Taobh Tuathail,[8] KXCI,[9] BBC 6 Music,[10] andAçık Radyo.[11] The album premiered on It's Psychedelic Baby! Magazine on September 27.[12]
Mike Mineo of Obscure Sound wrote: "There’s an immediate charm to the album’s scenic and lush composure."[13] Nialler9 wrote that the album was "delicately poised and reflective in nature."[14] Raffael Russo reviewed the album positively in the Italian music magazine Rockerilla.[15] In their New and Notable section, the website Bandcamp wrote: "Seamus O’Muineachain takes us to his hometown of Belmullet, Ireland through patient, pensive ambient composition."[16] Writing for Spectrum Culture, Pat Padua said "The EP takes less than 27 minutes to tell its story, but that brief time is used to communicate the patient appreciation of a dreamlike existence on the other side of the world." Simon Lewis of Ptolemaic Terrascope called the album "a gentle, unhurried set of songs which demand to be taken as a whole and when done so prove to be a balm for the soul."[17] It was included on Star's End list of significant releases of 2022.[18]