Feeling emotional? Or feeling nothing at all? I'd recommend an evening with the absolute bummer musical interpretations of Lankum. The Irish band is quickly becoming one of the most popular folk acts in the world, which I'm only all too happy to see. Yes, happy. "Happy" and "Lankum" are not mutually exclusive. I love Lankum, I've written about them a bit before and have listened to them an ungodly number of hours, over and over and over again. Yes, I'm fine, thanks for asking.
Lankum adapts songs that, at least lyrically, contain the stories of dark comedies at their lightest. In their most popular iterations, they're delivered lightheartedly. The Dubliner's popular version of "The Wild Rover" is a drinking song about a beleaguered alcoholic. Lankum delivers it like the bittersweet eulogy it is.
"Go Dig My Grave" hasn't had an upbeat interpretation as of yet, which is fitting, given its subject matter, but it has been made into a near nine-minute ponderous dirge by Lankum. Vocalist Radie Peat draws out the melancholy of the troubled girl's lament, her voice a wonderful accompaniment to the borderline doom metal instrumentals of the song.
Lankum's own Ian Lynch has an episode of his excellent podcast detailing the history of this song in its various forms:
I am on the hunt for more acts in the "drone folk" department, which is probably a niche, if fledgling, genre. If you know of any, burden me with the heaviest music known to man (please) at natalieisdressed@gmail.com
