Ahead of their debut album, ‘tradtronica’ group Huartan release ‘Dúlamán‘, an adaptation of a beloved Donegal folk song. While the song has famously been interpreted by the likes of Clannad and Altan, Huartan’s version brings it into the electronic space.
Producer and composer Stiofán Ó Luachráin turns the traditional chorus “dúlamán gaelach” and blends it into a synth-driven track with pulsating bass, sharp percussion, and not a folk instrument in sight.
On the surface, Dúlamán is a playful conversation between a father and his daughter’s suitors, each named after different types of seaweed. Some hear in this a metaphor for female sexual autonomy, as the daughter teases and resists her suitors.
Others have linked the song to the Irish famine, when seaweed was central to sustenance and trade. A final interpretation sees the father as Ireland and the suitors as Scottish settlers during the plantation of Ulster, trying to steal the daughter – the province herself – away.
Linking playfulness with political depth, the track opens with the echo of the Angelus bell, a hint at the enduring influence of histories of colonial, religious, and patriarchal control in Ireland. Lead vocalist Múlú reinterprets the song entirely, replacing the original Irish melody with one she learned while exchanging songs with Baul folk musicians from the Bengal region of India.
Breaking the boundaries of the Irish tradition by connecting cultures and fusing genres, Huartan understand that, rather than becoming relics, Irish songs are most alive when they are allowed to transform.
A departure from more melancholic previous releases such as Bean Udaí Thall, Dúlamán has the quality of a pop song. It has become a live favourite, with audiences (Irish speaking and not) chanting along to the chorus in Gaeilge.
The track also stands as part of what many are calling a new Celtic revival, a cultural moment that includes artists such as Róis and Lankum, leading traditional songs into fresh re-imaginings that speak to the present.
‘Dúlamán‘ is available on all major streaming platforms now.