# Madra Salach's Hunger Album > Madra Salach's debut album Gorta explores inherited trauma through Irish folklore and punk energy. - Title: Madra Salach's Hunger Album · Rolling Stone | Shortify - Summary: Madra Salach's debut album Gorta explores inherited trauma through Irish folklore and punk energy. Madra Salach's album Gorta uses Irish folklore to examine… - Keywords: madra salach, gorta, irish folk, paul banks, salford, kirsty maccoll, tunnel tigers, folk music, dublin, lankum, mary wallopers, Madra - Source: Rolling Stone — https://rollingstone.com/music/music-features/madra-salach-ireland-folk-interview-1235636950 - Author: Will Richards - Published: 2026-10-08T16:30:00+00:00 - Read time: 1 min - Topics: madra salach, gorta, irish folk, paul banks, salford, kirsty maccoll, tunnel tigers, folk music, dublin, lankum, mary wallopers ## Album Artwork The artwork for Madra Salach's debut album Gorta depicts a face in distress with beams of light pouring into its open mouth. > The artwork for Madra Salach ’s debut album, Gorta, is equal parts gorgeous and troubling ## Mythological Inspiration The art draws from Irish Sheela na gigs and headless Blemmyes mythology to symbolize hunger and disintegration. > The art’s inspiration is an amalgam of two dark and somewhat disturbing mythological creatures ## Artist Vision Paul Banks wanted the artwork to show 'hungry eyes' and a 'wild, desperate expression' for the album's hunger theme. > Paul Banks, singer of the fast-rising Dublin folk band, wanted Torrans’ artwork to portray a figure with 'hungry eyes' and a 'wild, desperate expression' ## Album Title Meaning Gorta translates from Irish as 'hunger' or 'famine', referencing the Fear Gorta, the Man of Hunger. > Gorta, the album’s title, translates from Irish as 'hunger' or 'famine' ## Inherited Trauma The album explores inherited trauma through the lens of the 'haunted isle of green' and modern Irish identity. > Across their stunning debut full-length album, Madra Salach take the idea of a gut feeling to new extremes ## Ireland's Music Scene Ireland has been a major source of influential music for the British Isles over the past decade. > FOR A DECADE NOW, much of the best music made on the British Isles has been coming from Ireland ## Band's Musical Style Madra Salach blend punk energy with traditional Irish instruments for a unique sound that defies folk conventions. > The way that we play is a bit more uninhibited, because you’re not thinking about the rules of traditional Irish music ## Key Song Analysis Their punky version of 'Tunnel Tigers' honors Irish workers who dug London's Victoria Line tunnels. > Written by the Salford-born MacColl — father of the late Kirsty MacColl — to soundtrack a BBC documentary about the Irish workers ## Modern Folk Ethos Banks believes folk songs should feel alive and relevant, not like 'playacting or a bit renaissance fair'. > If you’re writing folk music in the 21st century and try to make it sound like an old song and use words that you wouldn’t normally use, it sounds like playacting or a bit renaissance fair ## Thematic Depth The album examines both historical famine trauma and modern yearning through songs like 'Searrach' and 'Haunted Isle of Green'. > On 'Searrach' (a young horse), our narrator is 'full but I’m craving', while on 'Haunted Isle of Green' he is 'hungry no more' yet 'cannot shake off what I’ve seen' ## Artist Perspective Banks aims to capture what a 21st-century Irish person feels through the album's exploration of hunger and identity. > One of the goals of the album thematically is to paint a picture. What is a 21st-century Irish person like? ## Key takeaway Madra Salach's album Gorta uses Irish folklore to examine inherited trauma and modern Irish identity.