Varo – announce new collaborations album ‘The World That I kNew’ + share the single ‘Red Robin (feat. Alannah ThornBurgh)’

Renowned Dublin-based trad music duo VARO today announce that they will release new album The World That I Knew on Friday, 9 May 2025. 

The collaborations album, which has been five years in the making, has been highly anticipated due to VARO’s reputation in Dublin’s live trad and folk music scene, and also to the exceptional list of musicians featuring, which reads like a who’s who of important figures in Ireland’s contemporary folk and trad sene: Ian Lynch (Lankum), John Francis Flynn, Anna Mieke, Alannah Thornburgh, Junior Brother, Slow Moving Clouds, Niamh Bury, Inni-K, Ruth Clinton and Cormac MacDiarmada (Poor Creature), Lemoncello and Branwen.

The album news comes with the release today of the first single, ‘Red Robin (feat. Alannah Thornburgh)’,

Lucie Azconaga and Consuelo Nerea Breschi (A.K.A. VARO) say of the new single: “We learned this song from a 1977 recording of Mikey Kelleher (1907-1987), found in an online collection of songs from County Clare. We immediately fell in love with the melody and lyrics, which describes a state of mind rather than a real story. It seemed to paint a paysage of melancholy, memories and loneliness, and at the same time of extreme human warmth and connection with the elements of nature.” 

“Working with Alannah has been an absolute pleasure,” the pair continue. “She’s insanely talented and the loveliest woman. The harp perfectly creates this soft melancholic and emotional sound we were looking for.”

Alannah Thornburgh is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist and composer with a focus on Irish harp. Alannah’s music explores her family’s musical heritage, reimagining ancient airs and tunes from the Irish harping and American folk & jazz traditions. She has just been nominated for an RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Award in the Best Original Folk Track category. 

“It was a pleasure working on the arrangement of ‘Red Robin’ with Varo and bringing it to life in many performances and recordings since,” says Alannah Thornburgh. 

Alannah Thornburgh and another of the album’s collaborators, Branwen, will join VARO at their headline show at the Pepper Cannister Church, Dublin on Saturday 25th January, as part of TradFest 2025. Tickets available now from TradFest.com.