Handel’s Fantasy was Kíla’s début album, originally released on cassette only in 1993. Rough hewn from years of busking on the streets of Dublin, Kíla were part of the generation of musicians that produced Glen Hansard and his band The Frames & Mic Christopher among many others. Kíla’s inimitable style was well established by the time they entered the studio to undertake this project. The recording and subsequent release of Handel’s Fantasy marked Kíla’s transition from street performers to stage show-stoppers.Among this generation of musicians, Kíla were always to the fore with songwriting, composition and forays into the studio to record. In 1992 Stiúideó 7 (one of Dublin’s then newest and hippest studios) welcomed the adventurous boys and girl with open arms. Encouraging and fostering a creative vibe the studio allowed day-long-night-long sessions to happen as experimentation with sounds, chords, tunes and words happened with a youthful intensity.Produced by former Dead Can Dance member, Lance Hogan, the album encompasses a wide ranging musical palate, from a bluesy sean-nós (old style) song, ‘Faoiseamh’, to a raucous rock-reel reminiscent of 80’s indie rockers Eat, ‘Ríl a hAon’; from the film-soundscape of ‘Four Ages Of Man’ (the definitive version of WB Yeats’ poem set to music) to the solo splendour of ‘Ríl Rossa (5.30 a.m)’.
