Maire Brennan - Whisper To The Wild Water

Wednesday 1st December 1999
Maire Brennan - Whisper To The Wild Water
Maire Brennan - Whisper To The Wild Water

STYLE: Celtic
RATING 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 3770-460
LABEL: Authentic 7012632267
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1
RRP: £9.99

Reviewed by Tony Cummings

"Perfect Time" was exquisite, but if it had one fault it was that repeated plays showed a samey-ness of many of the tracks. But this breathtaking sequel is near faultless. The opening track "Follow The Word", with its deft interjections of Irish reel, still retains all that ethereal cushion of introspection that has become Maire's (and indeed sister Enya's) trademark, is to my ears the finest thing either Maire or Clannad have ever recorded. After such a dazzling opener, one might have wondered if such delights could be sustained throughout. They are. "Where I Stand" is an exquisite ballad, "Hard To Break The Seal" has an infectious undulating rhythm while her sadly short closer, a version of "Be Thou My Vision" using the Gaelic words of her late grandfather Hugh Duggan is breathtakingly lovely, and shows that, despite the seeming dozens of versions of the hymn since the Celtic revival took hold, there is still room for Maire's rendition. Even the questionable tactic of getting her son to speak some Gaelic words (based on Francis Of Assisi's "Make Me An Instrument" prayer) works. In an age of urban bustle and technological overkill, this most gifted singer/songwriter continues to give us material shining with a peace-filled spirit.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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Reader Comments

Posted by Mark in Portadown @ 20:37 on Sep 6 2006

ordered this one on the advice of a UCBDeeJay along with Perfect time, 7yrs ago. Máire is an oustanding Christian artiste and puts out some great stuff, must check out her new one, I've just noticed....



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