Moya Sweeney & Archie Churchill-Moss - From the Aa

Few instruments sound so different across national traditions as the diatonic button accordion (“melodeon” to you and me). Turning from the liquid melodic runs of Sharon Shannon to the chunky Morris bounce of John Spiers or the pulsing dance rhythms of Bruno le Tron, one could hardly believe it was the same instrument being played. This dazzling EP is a collaboration between two of the finest contemporary box players in the Irish and continental traditions, Moya Sweeney from Co. Tyrone and Archie Churchill-Moss from the west of England. The EP’s enigmatic title, From the Aa, reflects the fact that both Sweeney and Churchill-Moss play melodeons built by the Dutch maker Frans van der Aa, whose instruments’ exquisitely sweet tone will be familiar to admirers of Hartwin Dhoore’s wonderful Waterman.

The combination of Irish and European styles of play is perhaps clearest on Mollaí’s Bodhran, which begins with the kind of Steve Reich-esque pulsing drone familiar from Churchill-Moss’ duo albums with Tom Moore (Laguna, 2017; Spectres, 2020), before quickly morphing into an infectious rolling Irish reel. It’s fascinating listening to Sweeney and Churchill-Moss throwing the melody between them, each recognisably shaping it in their own distinctive style, Sweeney all attack and lift and emphasis, Churchill-Moss smooth and light and bubbling.

For its first couple of minutes, For Frans is a classic mind-bending Churchill-Moss dance-tune, with the beat shifting back and forward in the bar; but the track really comes to life in its dazzling breakdown, as the two players swap fragments of the melody with almost telepathic empathy and grace.

But for most listeners, the pick of this exquisite EP will be the epic final set. Sweeney leads off with the haunting The Harrier Hawk, backed with some gorgeous guitar work from Dave Malkin, before Churchill-Moss takes over for the triumphant Isaac and Gabby’s’, an infectiously joyful tune built around a gorgeous 3/4 over 4/4 vamp (don’t try this at home kids).

From the Aa is cutting-edge, genre-bending folk at its very best; it stands alongside Anne Niepold & Andy Cutting’s 2023 album Duo Niepold Cutting as one of the most ambitious and successful melodeon records of recent years. I can’t recommend it highly enough.