Manchester-based duo – THE BREATH – are playing a hometown show in the city this Saturday (13 May).

After meeting on the city’s gig circuit in the late noughties, The Breath are Manchester guitarist Stuart McCallum and singer/flautist Ríoghnach Connolly. An unlikely pairing though it was, he an acclaimed guitar whiz. ex-member of The Cinematic Orchestra and softly spoken Manchester urbanite and she a folk singer with a larger-than-life personality and a powerful voice to match, their connection was immediate.

Forming as The Breath in 2016, the singer-songwriter duo have been presenting their contemporary take on alt-folk ever since. For the pair it’s all about the song. Connolly is a storyteller, and their exquisitely crafted, honest, personal and heartfelt songs are just as likely to touch on childhood summers and first loves as they are cultural dislocation, post-colonial injustices and grief.

But, it’s Ríognach’s impassioned delivery and extraordinary stop-you-in-your-tracks voices, coupled with Stuart’s understated brilliance, that is so engaging.

Having released three albums on Peter Gabriel’s Real World label, the pair’s breakthrough ‘Carry Your Kin’ was released in 2016 and delved deeply into the spaces between rock, ambient and Irish folk, where layered vocals, mesmerising guitar riffs and expansive arrangements created a big sound. ‘Let The Cards Fall’ followed in 2018 and, like the first, was recorded with a full-band to grant a multi-textured kaleidoscope of sound with a cinematic sensibility.

Set to play at Hallé St Peter’s in Manchester this weekend, new material from The Breath is also confirmed to be appearing later this year.

* * * *

Alongside her work with The Breath, Ríoghnach Connolly has also dipped her toes in a whole host of other projects throughout her career including fronting the genre-defying Manchester ensemble Honeyfeet. Coming from a long line of singers on both sides of her family, she draws from a breadth of styles both familial to those from folk traditions from across the world. Touching on Sean-nós Caoineamh to West African griot ululation and American deep-south resonance, she creates something singularly her own. Named as the BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year in 2022, Ríoghnach has earned a formidable reputation for her traditional and folk infused solo canon and last year performed at the Albert Hall for Letters Live, and alongside the BBC Philharmonic. Stay tuned for much more from Ríoghnach Connolly, Honeyfeet and The Breath throughout 2023…

THE BREATH LIVE IN MANCHESTER
14 MAY 2023 @ HALLÉ ST PETER’S

Tickets on sale

FOR MORE INFORMATION
https://www.instagram.com/rioghnachconnolly/
http://thebreathmusic.com