Kila have long defied the purists of traditional Irish music, performing in the English language as readily as Irish and reaching out well beyond the bounds of conventional folk to prominently incorporate elements of rock, jazz, and electronic music. Most recently, the Dublin-reared seven-piece completed a collaboration/split album with northern Japanese Ainu musician Oki, who shares the group's cross-collaborative spirit. Gamblers' Ballet is a far cry from the latter project, but remains as unconventional and genre-bending as one would expect from a Kila project. Lead single "Leath Ina Dhiadh a hOcht" ("Half Past Eight") effortlessly works the main theme from Pachelbel's "Canon in D" among its own uplifting uilleann pipe melody, while the intricate percussion which plays the song out could as easily have been inspired by hardcore punk as it could traditional west African sounds, such is the melee of implicit and explicit influences which make up the average Kila composition. Ronan O Snodaigh is a gifted writer and vocalist, as the three non-instrumental tracks prove, but his main contribution to the group is his expert bodhran playing, and the effect is immediately apparent in the opening bars of second track "Electric Landlady," his hypnotic low thump providing the perfect bass for brother Colm O Snodaigh and Dee Armstrong's winding flute and fiddle dalliances. Though the main melodic instruments of "Fir Bolg" are fiddle and pipes, the effect is entirely exotic, calling to mind Middle Eastern and Turkish music, and it's fitting given the mythical nature of the subjects. The subtle electronics of pipe instrumental "Boy Racer" recall Liam Howlett's famed "Firestarter" sample, and the wonderfully named "Her Royal Waggeldy Toes," featuring the Hothouse Flowers' Liam O Maonlai on piano, exudes a clear Cuban jazz influence. The most impressive aspect of this multitude of influences is the degree of musicianship required to incorporate them all, and the intricacies of Gamblers' Balletare guaranteed to keep even the most discerning listener guessing for some time to come. Two decades in the making, Gamblers' Ballet is Kila's most consistently impressive recording to date. ~ Dave Donnelly|

Rovi