by Catherine L. Tully

Artist: Jenneth Tollin
Album: "The Bardic Wyrd"
Year produced: 2007

Jenneth Tollin's soulful voice echoes gently on the very first track here--a preview of what's to come on this relaxing and artistic album. The deep moaning of strings is sometimes paired with Tollin's voice and with the hopeful sounds of the harp, making for an interesting juxtaposition of mood and emotion.

The vocals are very expressive--and Tollin has the Celtic sound down pat. The the music itself can playfully tip-toe outside the genre a little bit. The instrumental arrangements keep things interesting on the CD, particularly evident on track 4, "The Witches Dance." With the absence of Tollin's voice, the music is exposed, yet stands alone well enough to be enjoyable--although not as much as the tracks where Tollin sings.

Songs like "Black Is The Color" find the sound of the vocals wrapping you up softly--it makes you want nothing more than to close your eyes and listen to her sing. Indulge yourself. "Lament for White Wave" is also a track that is not to be missed here.

At 15 tracks, this CD weighs in on the long side, but you are never sorry that it keeps on going. Tollin has managed to do her own thing here--not comparable to many artists that lend this dreamy mood to their music such as Enya or Lorena McKennitt. All her own sound, the music doesn't follow a "new age" patterning very often, but rather blends, ebbs and flows with the vocals. Very nice.

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Catherine L. Tully is a freelance writer and photographer who specializes in the arts. She has written for American Style and Classical Singer, among others and reviews music for Marc Gunn's Celtic MP3s Music Magazine. You can reach her through her photography website at www.moonbeamdigital.com.

Labels: cd_review_2007

Posted by Marc Gunn, Saturday, July 21, 2007.
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