“Queen of Gaelic Singers” inspires video game soundtrack

A Glasgow-born singer features on the soundtrack of a new horror video game after developers heard her mother singing Gaelic songs online.

Maggie MacInnes’ mother Flora MacNeil from Barra was known as the “Queen of Gaelic Singers”. She died in 2015 at the age of 86.

Brighton-based game developer The Chinese Room came across clips of MacNeil singing and asked MacInnes if he would like to record “Fath Mo Mhulaid a Bhith Ann.”

The game “Still Wakes the Deep” is set on an oil rig in the North Sea and the characters are voiced by Scottish actors Alec Newman, Neve McIntosh and Karen Dunbar.

The game was published by Secret Mode and released on various platforms including Xbox and PlayStation.

You can hear MacInnes singing in the game’s launch trailer and also when playing the game in the Gaelic language option.

The audio director of “Still Wakes the Deep” initially contacted MacInnes via social media.

Singer and Celtic harpist told BBC Naidheachdan: “At first I thought it was a joke.

“The song itself isn’t scary, but it fits the story in the game.

“The men are trapped on the oil rig and something evil is after them.

“One of the characters is longing to be home with her family and is looking out to sea. She is longing to be back home across the water.

“From that point of view, from the atmosphere of that feeling in the game, it’s fitting.”

MacInnes first recorded “Fath Mo Mhulaid a Bhith Ann” in the 1980s and has since released a new single of the song, recorded at her home in Barra.

She said: “I love the song.

“It is full of beautiful poetry about the beauties of Barra and the longing to be back on Barra.”

MacInnes learned Gaelic songs from her mother, who came from a long line of singers on both sides of her family.

MacNeil learned most of her repertoire from her mother, Ann Gillies, and was exposed to hundreds of songs during her childhood in the Hebrides.

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