Music Culture - Tombs o' the Faeries by Beluga Lagoon

Tombs o' the Faeries by Beluga Lagoon

When I moved to Scotland I never imagined I would get [back] into folk music. That said, when I first discovered Beluga Lagoon, they weren't exactly common folk music. I would have described them as contemporary Scottish folk rock music with a hint of something far removed from 'folk' music. I first encountered the band's music in 2018 and while my relationship with the band's music was very much to pick and choose the songs from, by then, a pretty varied back catalogue. They had albums out, but the one I was drawn to The Small Boat and the Big Sea, had a dark side; it was tinged with melancholy and tracks like Neverland and On The Shore hinted at a small band with big intentions. By 2020 I had learned that Beluga Lagoon was the project of wildlife photographer Andrew O'Donnell from just north of the Central Belt - a multi-talented man who could, it seems, turn his hand to many things. 2020 saw the release of The Lagganberry Man, a strange mix of joyous songs and dark, brooding intentions. It became a favourite during lockdown and beyond; I was hooked by O'Donnell's gruff voice and twisty lyrics; the fact that while this was essentially a folk band there was elements of so many other music genres hiding in the background of every song. Whether it was the jangly folk pop of Rainbows or the haunting prog-like Homo Sapien Lullaby, Beluga Lagoon seemed to have hit the right notes at the right time...

In 2023 the band released what has become my favourite album - The Kilfraggan Forest Choir - pretty much a concept album featuring choirs and a whole host of contemporary styles mixed with old fashioned music making. The album was pure genius and I never grow tired of listening to it. However, as the band went from obscure to emerging there seemed to be a bit of a change in their music. First there was a Christmas release for Ronnie the Reindeer - a dark festive tale with an almost trad folk song tagged on the end. Then in 2024 they released The Slug's Bunnet, another concept album, this time about a fictional pub and its customers. I still struggle with this album. It is jam-packed with proper Scottish folk music; happy tunes and diddly diddly moments. The band obviously had a great time making it, I didn't listening to it.

So, what was I supposed to make of The Tombs O' The Faeries? A new album and the third in just over two years, I get the impression Beluga Lagoon are catching the wave. When I started following this band they had fewer than 2,000 followers on social media; now that figure on Instagram alone is well into the tens of thousands and today (April 26th) they play a short set before Scotland's Women's Six Nations Rugby match and are headlining some middling festivals in 2025. However, where The Slug's Bunnet was not my cup of tea, Tombs is infused with that darkness that attracted me to the band in the first place. It's probably yet another concept album, but I don't let that affect anything. It's an album that feels so much more like the band I originally started to follow. The distant feeling of melancholy has returned to the music and vocals and while there are a couple of 'dancing' songs on this album, it is mainly a very atmospheric and emotional selection of songs.

I have had it on constant rotation since the album's preview was released a week ago. There are a couple of tracks which feel like they could become classic Beluga Lagoon songs, but... has their growing acclaim taken the edge off of O'Donnell's music? For a folk band, there has always been something soulful about them; however, that seems to have gone. It was possibly burned out with Kilfraggan because that album touches so many parts their other albums didn't get close to; yet despite being very impressed with The Tombs O' The Faeries, it hasn't grabbed me by the balls like some of their earlier works. That said, it's still on target to be my favourite album of 2025. 7.5/10

Track list: 

1. Bòcan
2. Raineach
3. Ghillie
4. The Hawk
5. Mirren o’ Murlaganmore
6. Gooserider
7. Ruairidh’s Revenge
8. The Crossing 
9. Mòrar
10. Tomb