Lankum are a contemporary Irish

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

group from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, consisting of brothers Ian and Daragh Lynch, Cormac MacDiarmada and Radie Peat. In 2018 they were named Best Folk Group at the

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

Folk Music Awards, while Radie Peat was named Best Folk Singer. The band were nominated for the RTÉ

Choice Music Prize The Choice Music Prize (), known for sponsorship reasons as the RTÉ Choice Music Prize is an annual music prize awarded to the best album from a band or solo musician who is born in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland or holds an Irish ...

Irish Album of the Year in 2017 for their album ''Between the Earth and Sky'', and won the prize in 2019 for their album ''The Livelong Day''.

History

The group were originally known as Lynched, after the brothers' surname, and released their debut album ''Cold Old Fire'' (2014) under that name. In October 2016 they announced in a statement that they were changing their name to Lankum to avoid associations with the practice of lynching. The statement read: "We will not continue to work under our current name while the systemic persecution and murder of black people in the USA continues." The name Lankum comes from the folk ballad "False Lankum", as sung by the

Irish traveller Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally peripatetic indigenous ethno-cultural group in Ireland.''Questioning Gypsy identity: ethnic na ...

and folk singer John Reilly. In 2017, the band signed to

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pu ...

and recorded their album ''Between The Earth and Sky'', to analogue tape with producer/ engineer Julie McLarnon, before recording the final track "the Granite Gaze", and mixing the album with producer John "Spud" Murphy in Guerrilla Studios, Dublin. It was released on 27 October 2017 and subsequently nominated for

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British ra ...

. ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' named it folk 'album of the year' 2017. In 2019, the band recorded "The Livelong Day" with producer/engineer John "Spud" Murphy in the Meadows recording studio, Wicklow and in Guerrilla Studios, Dublin. It was released on 25 October 2019 and went on to win the RTÉ Choice Prize 2019. In 2019, Lankum's video for ''The Young People'', directed by filmmaker Bob Gallagher, won Best Irish Music Video Award at the Irish Film Festival in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England.

Artistry

Their music has been characterised as "a younger, darker

Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". ...

with more astonishing power". Reviewing their third album ''The Livelong Day'' (2019) for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', Jude Rogers described it as "a folk album influenced by the ambient textures of

Sunn O))) Sunn O))) (pronounced "sun") is an American experimental metal band formed in 1998 in Seattle, Washington. The band is known for their distinctive visual style and slow, heavy sound, which blends diverse genres including doom metal, drone, bl ...

and

Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

, plus the sonic intensity of Xylouris White and My Bloody Valentine".

Members

*Ian Lynch – vocals,

uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...

, concertina, tin whistle, percussion *Daragh Lynch – vocals, guitar, percussion, piano *Cormac Mac Diarmada – vocals, fiddle, viola, banjo, double bass,

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist, ...

, piano, percussion *Radie Peat – vocals,

bayan Bayan may refer to: Eduational Institutions * Bayan Islamic Graduate School, Chicago, IL Places *Bayan-Aul, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan *Bayan Mountain, an ancient mountain name for part of Tarbagatai Mountains at Kazakhstan in Qing Dynasty period *B ...

concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. Th ...

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

, organ, piano, electric organ, harp,

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. ...

Discography

*''Where Did We Go Wrong?!'' (2003) - as Lynched (only Ian and Daragh Lynch) *''Cold Old Fire'' (2014) – as ''Lynched''

Awards and nominations

RTÉ Choice Music Prize (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

, - , align="center" , 2017 , , ''Between The Earth And Sky'' , , Album of the Year , , , - , - , align="center" , 2019 , , ''The Livelong Day'' , , Album of the Year , , , -

RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards The RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards are annual awards presented by RTÉ Radio 1 to celebrate the best in Irish folk music. The awards were established in 2018 and include recipients such as Martin Hayes, Emma Langford, Declan O'Rourke, Moya Brenn ...

, - , align="center" , 2018 , , ''Lankum'' , , Best Folk Group , , , - , align="center" , 2018 , , ''Radie Peat'' , , Best Folk Singer , , , - , align="center" , 2020 , , ''Lankum'' , , Best Folk Group , , , - , align="center" , 2020 , , ''Radie Peat'' , , Best Folk Singer , , , -

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British ra ...

, - , align="center" , 2016 , , ''Lynched'' , , Best Group , , , - , align="center" , 2016 , , ''Cold Old Fire'' , , Best Album , , , - , align="center" , 2016 , , ''Lynched'' , , Horizon Award , , , - , align="center" , 2018 , , ''Lankum'' , , Best Group , , , - , align="center" , 2018 , , ''The Granite Gaze'' , , Best Original Song , , , -

Other notable accolades

, - , align="center" , 2019 , , ''The Livelong Day'' , , NPR Music's 25 Best Albums of 2019 , , 8th , - , align="center" , 2019 , , ''The Livelong Day'' , , MOJO's 75 Best Albums of 2019 , , 58th , - , - , align="center" , 2020 , , ''Lankum'' , , The Irish Times 50 Best Irish Acts In Order , , 8th , -

Notes

: Ian and Darragh Lynch released ''Where Did We Do Wrong?!'' in 2003 as ''Lynched.'' However, it seems that this incarnation of ''Lynched'' is not the same musical project as that of the same name which would go on to become ''Lankum'', as ''Cold Old Fire'', released in 2014 with Cormac Mac Diarmada and Radie Peat, is often described as the group's "debut album".

References

External links

Official websiteLynched website (no longer updated)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lankum Musical groups from Dublin (city) Irish folk musical groups