Customer Reviews

In Love & Light

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I admit straight out that my Irish music tastes differ from Cherish the Ladies towards less accessible, rawer sounding tunes, so please keep this in mind when rating my review's helpfulness. I try to be helpful, by showing you where this recording falls into the traditional genre as well as the many points where it seeks to depart from the Celtic sounds that have earlier dominated much of Heidi Talbot's work on disc.

The second solo album from the former lead singer of Irish-American ensemble Cherish the Ladies mixes contemporary folk with traditional tunes. John Doyle, ex-guitarist from Sólas, Eddi Reader, ex-singer from Fairground Attraction, Mike McGoldrick, flute and whistle player, and most of all veteran fiddler John McCusker deepen the influences that blend radio-friendly, vaguely world-beat, singer-songwriter tunes with those rooted in Celtic styles. Her voice shows polish, without drawing undue attention to itself. She chooses pleasant songs for the pop entries. These in their arrangements opt often for a more accessible, less traditional framework. This may demonstrate her wish to break free of the trad repertoire in the same way that many female, former lead singers of Irish groups have done in the past couple of decades internationally.

After a few songs that favor the pop approach to respectable if not rousing results, an eclectic version of Bedlam Boys energizes the track selection. A lilting Music Tree shows the blend of African with British pop to good effect, and Talbot improves upon Tom Waits' song Time. The album would appeal to those who like British pop-folk artists Eddi Reader, Boo Hewerdine (producer of this album; his Invisible is covered here, and he co-writes Everything and Blackest Crow and When They Ring the Golden Bells), and Kirsty MacColl.

However, the addition of McCusker's violin certainly moves this album, in the excellent ballad Glenlogie, co-arranged with Dick Gaughan, into more timeless territory, and it is here that Talbot sounds at her best. This song recalls Maddy Prior or June Tabor. The broadening of her music into the popular genre perhaps shows a restlessness after so long in the traditional field. Like Prior or Tabor, this direction may continue to challenge her, as she blends her traditional background with her diverse interests, and future albums may chart her success in assimilating her Celtic musical heritage with her more mainstream-oriented talents.

Solo albums naturally explore and push boundaries that exist by default within the context of a group. But the audience may change along the way. Heidi Talbot, plaintively sweet Kildare vocalist from traditional band Cherish The Ladies, has released a second solo album, produced by Boo Hewerdine, that like her debut Distant Future, has around 25% traditional and 75% contemporary songs by songwriters like Tom Waits, Tim O'Brien and Boo Hewerdine.

Heidi reminds me of Cara Dillon who made a transition, not a successful one in my opinion, from traditional to contemporary. Heidi's Distant Future tended to retain a Celtic folk feel throughout, whether traditional or contemporary. On In Love + Light she is edging a little further into pop, and the difference between the traditional and contemporary numbers this time is perhaps more obvious. Traditionalists will savour Bedlam Boys, Glenlogie and Blackest Crow, all plainly reminiscent of Heidi's work with Cherish The Ladies - one is easily drawn into the narrative by the seductive singing, and on Blackest Crow the addition of Kris Drever's voice is pure delight. The other songs are amiable enough, but mostly not as powerful or memorable. Simon Bruce and Tim Schumacher's If You Stay is a sweet light love song, J. Clifford's Cathedrals rolls along and along, Tom Waits' Time is a lovely bittersweet song on reminiscing, Boo Hewerdine's Invisible and the evergreen Ink Spots hit Whispering Grass are cute and jazzy while both Hewerdine's up-tempo Everything and Tim O'Brien's bouncy Music Tree are warm and catchy.

The list of session musos is larger this time. John Doyle is back again briefly, and there's Neil MacColl, Ewen Vernal, John McCusker, Michael McGoldrick, Donald Shaw and Eddi Reader among others - quite a stellar cast really, McCusker's fiddle is a huge bonus. Arrangements still remain fairly sparse and uncluttered so that Heidi's voice is always at the forefront.

In the end it's a matter of personal taste. Some will listen to Heidi's gorgeous voice no matter what she sings, others like me will yearn for a little more of the traditional stuff they're used to with Cherish The Ladies. I wish the album as a whole could have been more raw, less neatly ironed but whatever the case, the sultry homespun material here is easy to digest, especially nice for a rainy day.

When I first heard Talbot, I thought I was listening to Kate Rusby: she's got the same beautiful, breathy kind of vocals, and the material is similar. (So's her husband... she's now with Rusby's ex, John McCusker.)

I won't say the music isn't original, but some of the songs had me saying, "Gee, that sounds like... that... that... damn, what song is that?" Fortunately, if she's borrowing a little too heavily, she's borrowing from the best because the result is very strong.

The highlight for me is her cover of Tom Waits' "Time". One of his most beautiful ballads, it hasn't gotten the attention it deserves, and her rendition is absolutely first-rate.

This is Heidi Talbot's second solo effort, having spent much of her musical career with New York based 'Cherish The Ladies'. Heidi is in good form here producing a very fine collection of songs that she makes her own. From the haunting 'Catherals', to the uptempo 'Bedlam Boys' and the stomping 'Music Tree', this will have you watering at the mouth. Her rendition of the Tom Waits classic 'Time' is sublime and effortless. Boo Hewerdine is at the controls here on production and the combination of both Boo and Heidi really deliveries a top-class album. I have seen her perform recently on the 'Eddi Reader' tour and she sounds even better 'live'. She fills a gap in the market somewhere between Eddi Reader and Enya. Sublime effort. Heidi..Thank you for finding me !!

If you first listen to Heldi's music, you'd think that's Norah Jones of some sort playing another genre of music. Truth is this is something more promising than Norah Jones if you like folk and celtic music with the modern edge. This is Heldi Talbot. A must hear if you're reading this by any chance. My person favorite is 'Belham Boys', 'Cathedrals', 'Glenlogie'.

Her Music has a lot of depth to it. Heldi's voice took my breath away. I first heard her music on AOL radio. It's one of the greatest music discoveries considering for me she's an Indie singer/composer/vocalist.

If you like acoustic sound, this album is a treat for you. :)

Although this is Heidi's second solo album, she's best know to many as lead singer in the Irish-American group Cherish the Ladies; while as a group they tend to work through a traditional set of songs and tunes, on her solo disc Heidi is very much a contemporary folk artist as she mixes her traditional roots with more modern songs.

The list of musicians providing the backing across the 12 tracks reads like a who's who of modern folk musicians including, amongst others, John McCusker, John Doyle, Michael McGoldrick, Eddi Reader, Kris Drever, Andy Seward and Boo Hewardine. As you'd expect from such a stellar cast list, the quality of the musicianship is exceptional and the low-key production from Hewardine is beautiful balanced and always makes Talbot's voice the focus of attention.

Her vocals are beautifully smooth and expressive, with the subtlest of Irish twangs - it's the perfect voice for an album of this style, imagine Alison Krauss transported to Ireland and you'd be somewhere close.
The mixture of modern and traditional is well balanced with a couple of Hewardine songs and a Waits cover mixing with `Bedlam Boys' and `Blackest Crow' (a superb duet with Kris Drever).

`In Love & Light' is an excellent modern folk album, the musicians are amongst the finest in the world, Talbot's voice is honeyed and effortless, and the mixture of songs work well. It's a surprisingly low-key and quiet disc, but one full of class and real quality.