Runrig Album: “Searchlight”

Not recognized in the States for their inspiring lyrics and uplifting music, Runrig is one of the best Scottish bands around. In just seconds they can take you from the height of love and wonder to the deep depths of the soul. Even the most skeptical person will find themselves humming the lyrics of City of Lights or tapping their foot to the drumbeat of Tear Down These Walls. An absolutely wonderful album. My second favourite of theirs next to The Gaelic Collection.

Who would understand? One of the best of Scottish Music, Runrig is treated as an exotic at Amazon.com. Where are other albums like "Amazing Things" or the even more contemporary ones like "Live at Celtic Connection"? It doesn't throw a good light on the American market that it hasn't discovered the band from the Scottish Highland yet. Searchlight is certainly one of their best albums (and it was the first by them that I owned). Runrig successfully brings together a fusion of traditional folkloristic style with modern kind of music, melting it with lyrics about the beauty of their homeland, sometimes reaching even religious tones. It's the newly evolving self- consciousness of the different European regions that may explain their success in Europe - a new interest in traditional expressions of culture and art. Therefore some songs of this album are sung in Gaelic, the old Celtic language of Scotland. And these songs touch the heart even more. Searchlight is a good start to discover Runrig - as I have to confess myself. But there's more to Runrig than that. And I hope, even America will find out.

I'm from Scotland, and I love the way this music reminds me of home. It's filled with our culture, of the way we celebrate, the way we remember and our way of life. Fabulous.