Hearken Quartet turn a traditional Breton an dro from a Dave Shepherd tune collection into “Boullettes (An Dro)”, the closing track on their six-track debut EP Hȳd, released 24 October 2025. Diatonic button accordion player and co-founder Bruce Lambelle-Rudd makes a small melodic rework before the band spend a weekend in intensive rehearsals stretching it into an eight-minute arrangement. The an dro is a Breton chain dance, with dancers linked together and moving sideways to short, repeating phrases over a steady dance rhythm. Hearken Quartet honour that structure but stretch it until it nearly snaps.

The group is built around diatonic button accordion, uilleann pipes and low whistle, clarinet, electric and acoustic guitars, and keys. Lambelle-Rudd and piper Bob Downham first worked as a duo from 2017, focused on European dance music, then in 2021 brought in clarinettist Em Lomas and guitarist and keyboard player Alex Walters. The quartet connects back to the Folk and Traditional Music degree at Newcastle University, and their sets include Brittany chain dances, Scandinavian couple dances and bourrées from the Auvergne, with electronic elements running under the acoustic instruments.

“Boullettes (An Dro)” starts with picked electric guitar, then clarinet and accordion enter with low whistle in the background. A stomp beat marks the move into full band, the parts lock together for a while, then separate again, repeating this cycle across the eight minutes. When the pipes arrive they change the balance of the arrangement, and each instrument comes forward in turn until the track closes on a short, clipped riff.