Release

African forces: kora, talking drum Celtic forces: hurdy-gurdy, uilleann pipes, bodhrán, fiddle, whistle, accordion

Western (dance) forces: male vox, female vox, synthesisers (including string pad, soft pad, bells, string bass), breath samples, drum machine, electric piano, shaker and tambourine. 

Much of the piece is made from looping.  
Playing techniques include glissando, ornamentation, double stopping, open and closed hi-hat.

• Constantly changing 
• Use of layering 
• Loops 
• Main texture is homophonic 
• Heterophonic texture (during outro) 
• Polyphonic texture.

• Use of nonsense lyrics 
• Main verse is syllabic 
• Some spoken parts 
• Short phrases 
• Limited range for the female vocal (6th). The male has a more extended range of a 13th
• Vocal samples 
• Repetitive  
• A sense of improvisation from opening female vocals 
• Use of glissando (sliding) 
• Use of ornamentation (acciaccatura)  
• Use of reverb is very obvious for the whole track.

• Free time at the start 
• Steady tempo established at 50″ – 100 bpm 
• Simple quadruple meter 
• Slightly swung semiquavers (gives a lilting/relaxed quality to the music) 
• Syncopation 
• Triplets 
• Sextuplets 
• Accents 
• Rhythmic ostinato 
• Use of loops 
• Use of riffs 
• Short rhythmic phrases 
• 2- and 4-bar phrases.

• Diatonic 
• Key of C minor 
• Modal  
• Chord sequences are repetitive 
• Hint of chromaticism 
• Use of extended chords (7th, 9th) 
• Slow harmonic pulse 
• Use of drone.

There is a distinct verse form. It contains an intro, solos, breaks and an outro. There are no choruses in this piece and the piece contains three verses.

Afro Celt Sound System was originally formed by guitarist Simon Emmerson in 1995 and has featured a number of guest artists over the years. Their music is a fusion of African, Celtic and electronic dance music. They were signed to Peter Gabriel’s (former frontman for Genesis) record label, Real World Records, and have performed at World Music festivals including WOMAD. Their first album, Volume 1: Sound Magic, was recorded in one week and was released in 1996, reaching number 15 in the 1997 Billboard Top World Music Albums. 
 
After the death of a core member of the group (Jo Bruce, son of Cream bass player Jack Bruce), the album Volume 2: Release was put on hold until Sinéad O’Connor stepped in and wrote the lyrics to a track that became ‘Release’. The album was released on 25 January 1999. In 2000 Afro Celt Sound System was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best World Music category.