Lankum Release New Track "Sergeant William Bailey"

Recent Rough Trade signing Lankum – one of the most important and talked about bands to come out of Ireland in decades – have shared new track “Sergeant William Bailey” from their album ‘Between The Earth And Sky’, out 27th October. Stream the track and pre-order the album (first 100 vinyl pre-orders from our Rough Trade webstore will be signed!) HERE.

Of the track, Ian Lynch from the band explains: “Satire in times of unrest is a potent a weapon as any, and this fact was not lost upon the ballad makers of Ireland’s past. Songs poking fun at the British Army recruiting sergeant were common in the Irish tradition and represent a class of anti-war song unto themselves. This one is particularly special in that the site of William Bailey’s recruiting attempts is Dunphy’s Corner, just down the road from where the members of Lankum live on Dublin’s northside. In our present era of social and political unrest songsthat seek to lampoon and make fun of figures of authority, military or otherwise, are as relevant as ever.”

Lankum are a Dublin four-piece who combine distinctive four-part vocal harmonies with arrangements of uilleann pipes, concertina, accordion, fiddle and guitar. Their repertoire spans humorous Dublin music-hall ditties and street-songs, classic ballads from the Traveller tradition, traditional Irish and American dance tunes, and their own original material. The band comprises of brothers Ian and Daragh Lynch along with Cormac MacDiarmada and Radie Peat. When not on tour Ian lectures in Irish Folklore and musical traditions in University College Dublin, while Cormac and Radie grew up as champion traditional players, on the fiddle and concertina, respectively. Yet Lankum are not purely trad themselves, in the same way The Pogues were more urban music. Rough-hewn and raw, they’re the edgiest thing in Dublin right now.