''Rua'' is the first full-length album by Irish-

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n band Clann Zú. The album contains themes of resistance and desperation. The songs are sung mainly in English, though there is some use of Irish. The production gives the songs a heavily layered sound, with prominent use of

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

tracks and

Declan de Barra Declan may refer to: * Declán of Ardmore (fl. 5th century), Irish religious leader * Declan (given name) Declan is an Irish given name, an anglicised form of the Irish saint name Declán, also Deaglán or Déaglán. St. Declán founded a monast ...

's emotive voice. There is a video for the track "Five Thousand More" on the CD.

Background

Clann Zú were formed in Melbourne in 1999 and released their debut album, ''Rua'', with the line-up of Benjamin Andrews on

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

, Nathan Greaves on

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

and

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A Goatskin (material), goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or ot ...

, Russell Fawcus on

electric violin An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...

and keyboards, and Lach Wooden as their engineer and providing sound manipulation. They relocated to continental Europe in December 2001 and then on to Dublin, Ireland in the following year.

Reception

Stewart Mason of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

reviewed Clann Zú's second album, '' Black Coats & Bandages'' (2004): he described ''Rua'' as a " head-spinning debut" and that both albums were "close to impossible to sum up in an easy sentence, because there are so many comparisons."

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's Tyler Munro summarised his review of ''Rua'': the group "blurs the line between celtic/folk, indie rock and electronica almost flawlessly to create a unique, organic listening experience." Adam White of Punknews.org felt it was "a wonderfully original and inspired album" showing "an eclectic mix of styles, with a rhythm section firmly rooted in electronica, instrumentation from Irish folk music and dark melodies that call to mind Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds."

Track listing

Personnel

;Clann Zú *

– vocals, bodhrán, lyrics, artwork, mixing, production * Nathan Greaves – bass guitar, mixing, production * Benjamin Andrews – guitars, mixing, production * Pip Atherstone-Reid – drums, percussion, mixing, production * Russell Fawcus – violin, keyboards, mixing, production ;Additional personnel * Craig Harnath – drum recording

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rua (Clann Zu Album) 2003 albums Clann Zú albums