Album Review: Ulster is a Dance Master // Strength NIA

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Strength NIA’s second full length release opens with disembodied vocals over the ominous stuttering chords of an organ. Formed around the talents of frontman Rory Moore, the band’s USP is using old, broken instruments to create a discordant brand of post-apocalyptic pop with the occasional chorus peeking up from beneath the rubble. The band like to think of their work as “the first pop songs in the world”.

Following on from their debut Northern Ireland Yes in 2018, Ulster is a Dance Master abounds with regional references and is a smorgasbord of instruments and sounds. The whole album clocks in at well under an hour and its lyrics recount eerie tales from Irish history to a more recent a youth spent in Derry. Song topics include everything from gravy buns to the population of Strabane.

The comically titled ‘Dressing Up for the TUV’ is an ode to the women found guilty in the last witch trial in Ireland in 1711. Moore speaks as the TUV councillor objecting to their memorial in 2015, delivering the crashing couplets: “Eight women from Islandmagee // they made a pact with the demons you see”. His vocal delivery recalls Joy Division’s Ian Curtis.

‘Stuck on the Lyre’ is a heartfelt elegy in post-punk clothing, whilst ‘Donegal Sweetheart’ is an unconventional love song somewhere between church hymn and spaced out anthem. The echoic ‘Hospital Beds and Drugs’ is another highlight. The album leaves listeners with ‘Never been to Belfast’, a warmer, mellower number than other tracks on LP, with Doors-esque keys and a North West twang.

Ulster is a Dance Master is at once cacophonous, cerebral and intimate. Strength NIA are undoubtedly one of the most unique acts the North has produced and wear their eccentricity as a badge of pride – and rightly so. The album may not be so accessible to the casual listener, but you can’t help feeling that was never the intention. It only gets better with every listen. Ulster is a Dance Master could give you a headache, but you might just like it.

This review was written for Dig With It magazine. It appears in print in Issue 5, which you can purchase here.

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