It's always a pleasure to receive a new album from Runa. Their latest, When the Light Gets In, might just be their best yet.

The recording begins strongly with "O Dheara, 'Sheanduine/The Inheritance Polka," a traditional song and original instrumental (by band member Fionan de Barra) that nicely features the band's many strengths.

Runa, if you haven't met them before, is Shannon Lambert-Ryan on vocals and bodhran, de Barra on guitars, bass, vocals, mandolin and bodhran, Cheryl Prashker on percussion and vocals, Tom Fitzgerald on fiddle, mandolin and vocals, and Jake James on fiddle. Guests on this album are Shane Cook on fiddle, David Rodgers on accordion, Caleb Christopher Edwards on mandolin and vocals, Benoit Bourque on vocals and accordion, and Antoine Pigeon-Bourque on vocals and accordion.

The album presents a varied selection of songs and instrumentals; my favorite of the latter is the well-named "Clowns Set." Traditional melodies are interspersed among a few band originals as well as covers by Stan Rogers, Kate Rusby, Tommy O'Sullivan and Ed Reavy.

My favorite track is a lively take on the traditional "La Ziguezon," a song by a perennial French-Canadian favorite, La Bottine Souriante. Listeners will enjoy a bit of global flair mixed with the band's Celtic-American foundation, and the closing track, a Gaelic-language version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," is absolutely lovely.

Runa, based in Pennsylvania but boasting an international crew of musicians, has been around in one form or another for 15 years or so, and they keep adding polish to their exceptional sound. If you can catch them on tour, please do so, but in the meantime you should pick up a copy of When the Light Gets In (and, while you're at it, sample their back catalogue as well).

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