Music and Rebellion: Chasing Abbey

The Band

From Ireland comes a fantastic band, Chasing Abbey, and they come to us with powerful and meaningful lyrics and melodies sure to pull you in. The band is a three-piece, made up of Ronan Bell, Jonathan Byrne and Ted Conway — together they create magic. Described as electronic dance beats built on traditional Irish melodies and instruments — they offer a dose of something different and hypnotizing. They embrace the original power of music by rebelling against the current norm of empty storytelling and instead they explore within themselves and their people. Yes, this is not your typical approach — they give us music that mixes both English and Irish (Gaeilge).

The Rebellion

But their bilingual approach is not really what makes them unique in my opinion, it's their deep and honest understanding of the history of their people and their pride in the language, the strength and the character that makes them Irish. It's a wonderful surprise to find a band that represents not only themselves but many whose voices have been constantly pushed by others. In my opinion, their music speaks to those who still refuse to accept what colonial powers did, and history is written by their pens, so we call it something else.

They feast and dine while the people go hungry (gorta) We never forget through our song and our stories (gorta) And all of this time it was just for the glory (gorta) So we never forget through our songs and our stories (gorta)

From the song "Gorta"

Their music is powerful and each one of them feels like it holds a story that can break us or push us forward, as we reconnect with the power in our voices. They don't hide their message, they are clear and this is appreciated, for there is no need to act high and mighty if you get it or not. It's an act of rebellion to be so clear nowadays, when some musicians dare say that their music is simply for entertainment, forgetting the original purpose of it — to tell stories, to ensure those gone are never forgotten, to connect us with the world, with the past and with the future.

They do it all while offering music that is exciting, fun, powerful and absolutely amazing. Chasing Abbey is a name that I hope will go down in history not only as one of the best bands out there, but as musicians who stood on firm ground and embraced the true power of instruments and voices.