World

This week's world music CDs reviewed

MOYA BRENNAN
Heart Strings All Media Entertainment ***

Moya Brennan's first solo live recording features two collaborations, one of which shows much unrealised promise. Heart Stringsis accompanied by The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and scored and conducted by Julie Feeney. There's a second-generation Clannad sense to the recording – it features three of the band's seminal hits, including In a Lifetimeand Theme from Harry's Game. Both songs benefit from stripped down treatments. The easy-listening tenor of the LPO contribution is a little disappointing, though, given the still pristine condition of Brennan's voice and her evident appetite to delve deep, as she does on the dreamlike Gone Are the Days. One would have hoped that the meeting of Brennan and Feeney, two decidedly idiosyncratic talents, might yield juicier fruit, but who knows? Maybe this is just a hint of things to come? www.moya brennan.com

Download tracks: Tunes, Alasdair MacColla