Pure gold

Who'd have thought the Chieftains were all really women in drag? That is the only conclusion that can be drawn from this album which strips the group bare, places them in the presence of some of the finest female artists of our time and leads to them producing their purest album in years. And best. The first track combines music by the Chieftains and a poem by Yeats, "Never Give All The Heart", read by Brenda Fricker set against an ethereal backdrop provided by Anuna. That, alone, should be reason enough to make anyone want the album.

The level rarely dips, with Bonnie Raitt pouring her soul full of Memphis blues over A Stor Mo Chroi, Natalie Merchant giving a more studied reading of The Lowlands Of Holland and Joni Mitchell almost vengefully furrowing into her own composition, The Magdalen Laundries, in a way that she failed to on her previous recording of the song.

So it continues throughout the album, with Akiko Yano's vocal on Sake In The Jar, another highlight, Sinead O'Connor's Factory Girl and, most surprisingly of all, Danny Boy by Diana Krall. But then, a voice like that could call anyone back from the grave. Even The Corrs seem more at home than usual and certainly more dynamic than the Rankins. Overall, a triumph.