At one moment a prog-rock band, the next an Irish-Scottish-Norwegian trad band, then an experimental indie-jazz band, then somehow all of these at once, Aerialists have alchemized diverse influences into a sound with striking clarity. It’s ethereal yet precise, technical yet visceral. Formed nearly a decade ago by harpist Màiri Chaimbeul, fiddler Elise Boeur, and guitarist Adam Iredale-Gray, now with three albums and a JUNO nomination under their belt, Aerialists have staked their claim on the leading edge of the neo-folk world.
The band’s arrangements assert the belief that a harp can groove like a drum kit, that a fiddle can be more ferocious than a distorted electric guitar, and that traditional tunes are sturdy and flexible enough to thrive in the seemingly inhospitable landscape of indie-rock instrumentation. This assertion has become Aerialists’ calling card. Many of the band’s original and traditional tunes begin with a minimalist groove, the instruments patiently layering in a subtle, atmospheric suspense. You almost forget that you’re about to hear a fiddle tune. When the tune steps onstage, everything suddenly makes a new kind of sense. Other pieces move in the opposite direction: the melody establishes itself, then the arrangement grows up around it like vines. The riffs and chord structures are complex and surprising, but when the band unleashes its full sonic power, it feels like the tune has brought you to its only logical conclusion.
This approach comes naturally to the members of Aerialists, whose adventurousness and instrumental chops are balanced by deep traditional roots. Màiri Chaimbeul is a harp player and composer from Scotland’s Isle of Skye. A native Gaelic speaker, Màiri is in-demand throughout North America and Europe for a distinctive improvising voice and expressive rhythmic sensibility. Fiddler Elise Boeur’s extensive work as a touring sideperson with songwriters shaped a sonic sensitivity and impressionistic approach, while living in Telemark studying Nordic fiddle and hardingfele grounded her music in tradition. Guitarist Adam Iredale-Gray spent his early years immersed in the creative fiddle scene on Canada’s west coast, and is an active player in Toronto’s Irish traditional music community as well as a critically acclaimed indie-folk producer and engineer. The core trio are joined onstage and in the studio by several of Canada’s finest bassists and drummers.
"Entire worlds seem travelled... there is a sense of urgency, lightheartedness, menace, and stillness" - Spill Magazine
“Seriously accomplished musicians, brimming with energy” - CBC
Following their 2016 self-titled debut, the band released Group Manoeuvre in 2017, which combined prog-trad compositions and re-imaginings of traditional material. 2020’s Dear Sienna further evolved the band’s hybrid sound and centered the addition of vocals, with lyrics in English, Swedish, and Scottish Gaelic sung by band members and collaborators from Brooklyn to Gothenburg. Chaimbeul takes an arresting turn on lead vocals in “An Gille Dubh Ciar Dubh,” a centuries-old Gaelic song about love, desire, and anguish. It opens with a lone, yearning harp, and by the end the song has unfurled into a vast rhythmic landscape through which Boeur’s fiddle tears and Iredale-Gray’s guitar prowls. The result is one of Dear Sienna’s most striking standout tracks. The album received a nomination for Roots Artist of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards, and took home the Canadian Folk Music Award for Pushing The Boundaries. Spring 2024 will see the release of new Aerialists album I Lost My Heart On Friday.
Following the music’s transatlantic roots, Aerialists have toured their releases in Europe, including festival sets at Celtic Connections in Glasgow and Crossdorf Festival in Hamburg. Canadian highlights include Vancouver Folk Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, Kaslo Jazz Festival, Hillside Festival, Northern Lights Festival Bóreal, Deep Roots Festival, and touring from coast to coast. According to Folk Radio UK, “there are few folk outfits working today as interesting and unpredictable as Aerialists.”