Chris Belson: It is said that whenever a group of the beautiful and otherworldly Shee appear to us mortals, there is a strange sound like the humming of thousands of bees, or a whirlwind or shee-gaoithe. I’m not suggesting that this band are in fact descendants of such magical beings but in their own way The Shee do personify this myth. They appear to us with a new album, Decadence – a really beautifully crafted and brilliantly played folk record. Songs like Sugar and Pie have a hint of The Unthanks to it, only with slightly more biting and contemporary lyrics. Although mostly very traditional, In some songs there’s a very apparent influence by more mainstream pop-music which, if anything, makes this album accessible to people not familiar with traditional folk. The stand out songs for me are Meltdown – which has an almost Shooglenifty-like sense of energy, and Room to Breathe – which I had on repeat whilst writing this review.
Ian Parker: Listening to The Shee takes me back to the likes of Nickelcreek, as they too are trying to add a new twist to traditional sounds, using an array of fiddles, accordians and flutes to tackle a mix of old standards and covers of artists like Abigail Washburn and Liz Carroll. There is, as Nickelcreek before found, a novelty value to this sort of thing and you do wonder how long it will sustain, particularly when – as in the Shee’s case – they do not have their own material, but for now they are doing their thing well.
From: https://www.forfolkssake.com/new-bands-panel/7769/the-shee
