Noble Stranger,Compass Records ***

There's a lot going on in Nuala Kennedy's third collection. A flute player and composer of remarkable finesse, Kennedy places the spotlight on songs and voice and mines their percussive qualities with a keen ear cocked for the peculiar. Alongside a pair of her own tune compositions and songs, she ducks and dives in between the mandolin and banjo of Iain Macleod, the percussion of Donald Hay and the guitar lines of Mike Bryan. Kennedy is long a resident of Scotland, and her adoptive home casts a muscular influence on the arrangements. The fluid elasticity of Kennedy's flute-playing has always been her greatest strength, but on Noble Stranger it is sometimes relegated in favour of voice and heavy-handed percussion, which can frustrate the momentum of the tune, particularly on Kennedy's own set, Love at the Swimming Pool. Her songwriting hints at a musician digging deep to discover her fullest potential, fearless of the unknown. Another step on a circuitous journey. compass records.com