Seamus O'Muinechain's Worlds of Sound

We all know how the world is, unfortunately, full of people who talk endlessly while saying nothing. More rare and refreshing are the opposite kind, who can speak very little and yet still say a whole lot with a few words. With an evocative sound somewhere between folky and quasi-ambient, pianist Seamus O'Muineachain is like the unassuming dinner guest who never needs to clamor to be heard, but can chip in a keen insight when a little space opens up. That simple eloquence makes each of these EPs into a panoramic mindscape in the space of a tidy 25 or so minutes.

Isthmus
Ghost Home Recordings
2022

Not content to simply paint an aural portrait of his Irish hometown, O'Muinechain brings the Mullet Peninsula right to us. The floaty opener gradually leads us into a misty daydream with floating piano and cello, which is soon joined by the sound of faint waves and footsteps on sand. Similar pieces of actual field recordings are woven through Isthmus to leave it never quite clear where music and nature blur. "Almost an Island" brings us almost to the shore with some light whooshing of wind and water. "Mouth of the Isthmus" creates a light synth fog accompanied by some clacks that suggest the knocking of wood washing up on shore.

The pictures are simple enough to evoke with piano and cello, perhaps topped off with a little light guitar, with the musical framework only as minimal as needed. The light piano figure of "Conches" smoothly rises and falls like the tide itself; "We Went Beachcombing" skips along as lightly as feet in a game of hopscotch. In practically no time, we are back at the shore again for the close, a little synth squeaking like a birdcall amidst the washing of more waves. It could almost be a dream, but the realness of the landscape unmistakably soaks into each minute.

Liminality
Ghost Home Recordings
2024

O'Muinechain steps away from the outside world and spends this EP largely in inner space instead. The central idea here comes from musing on transient moments and capturing the atmosphere of hovering between one thing and another. Accordingly, the piano strings are treated or muffled so that almost everything feels muffled and a little unreal. Somehow, there always seems to be multiple layers of emotions drifting in the mix; the mood never settles on uneasy or light or sad or cozy or any one thing in particular. The pace meanders somewhere between easygoing and soporific. The recognizable guitar is a cottony-sounding acoustic, while the background offers plenty of electric shimmers with some occasional hints of barely there strings, all hovering with the gauzy tone of a dream. Consider the feeling of waking from a catnap and not knowing whether it's been a couple of hours or just a couple of minutes. Liminality makes it easy to similarly slip out of time, not in a fuzzy haze but sharply and vividly enough to become practically otherworldly.

Cage of Time
Ghost Home Recordings
2025

While this theme dwells on the unfortunate limitations of time and our perceptions of it, the sound is anything but limited—amidst some more contemplative daydreams, it also shows some of his busiest playing to date. This time, the format is purely solo piano, and without any other instruments or backing drones, he fills the space with a little more groove even as the calm radiance remains undimmed. These pieces can flow like a breeze but are also liable to skip, trot, dance or occasionally even pirouette.

The drifting of "Petrichor" is livened up by some quick, classy flourishes; "Rainwashing" alternates the insistent thump of drops with light, flowing cascades, leading to the bittersweet partita of "Storms Over Achill" at a sudden sprint. Between the relatively lively steps, the quiet moments remain thoughtful as ever, perfect for sitting and fully absorbing the moment and the feelings. If time is a cage, this is not a bad reminder that there is boundless space in our heads to experience it.

Tracks and Personnel

Isthmus

Tracks: Two Bays; Lost Fishermen; Mouth of the Isthmus; Conches; Sound; Fields of Fog; We Went Beachcombing; Almost an Island; Meet Me at the Pier; Haar.

Personnel: Seamus O'Muineachain: piano, keyboard, synth, percussion, dulcimer, field recordings; Akito Goto: cello (1, 2, 6, 8, 10).

Liminality

Tracks: Here, (It's a Rare Thing) to Daydream, Cinnamon, Rain on Samhain, Between the Bridges, Liminality, Feel Light, Burning Streetlights, Oceans, Still Smouldering.

Personnel: Seamus O'Muineachain: piano, keyboard.

Cage of Time

Tracks: Far; Short Piece for Sleeping Lovers; Until the Lighthouse; Petrichor; Contemplate the Moon; Ponder; Rainwashing; Storms Over Achill; Auditorium; Finally.

Personnel: Seamus O'Muineachain: piano.

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