Landless are: Lily Power, Méabh Meir, Ruth Clinton and Sinéad Lynch.

The Irish quartet sings centuries old ballads as well as more recently penned folk songs. Sometimes unaccompanied and at times with subtle instrumentation, their vocally rich music is dark and patient; spellbinding and gorgeous. Lúireach is their second album and as with their acclaimed debut Bleaching Bones (2018), it is produced by John ‘Spud’ Murphy, known for his work with artists such as Lankum and ØXN.

Folk music emerging from Dublin seems to be everywhere at the moment – demonstrated most clearly by Lankum gaining a host of ‘Album of the Year’ nods at the end of 2023 – but it would be a mistake to call this a movement, much less any kind of revival. While Lankum, John Francis Flynn, Ye Vagabonds, Lisa O’Neill et al might be new to a lot of audiences, these artists have been exploring and expanding what folk music can be for years, decades even. And this is just as true of Landless, the quartet who’ve been singing together since 2013, finding each other through the traditional singing scene in the city and, crucially, the Sacred Harp singing community.