The female Irish ensemble of angelic voices recorded a brand new studio album A New Journey offering the signature Celtic Woman. The original buxom quartet of female singers, Lisa, Maev, Orla, and Chloe and a fiddle player Mairead have duly been joined by Hayley Westenra, a New Zealander, but one with Irish roots. She collaborates on five tracks, and her operatic voice just adds another dimension to the folksiness of the group's Celtic sound. Celtic Woman is backed by The Irish Film Orchestra and the Aontas Choral Ensemble. This group of immensely talented women combine Celtic music, a few songs with a more musical theatre style, and even some classical/opera songs. The voices of Celtic Woman blend together so smoothly you might think these women have been harmonizing since they were in their cribs. Some critics say that although these women have great singing abilities the music sounds as if it was created by Disney. And in some way they’re right, listening to this album you dip in the atmosphere of pacification, tranquillity, mystery and magic of a fairy tale.
The repertoire of A New Journey is an unforgettable collection of contemporary hits plus Irish standards. The album contains 16 tracks. The material includes some folkloric, like Dulaman, best known from Clannad's legendary rendering. A standard from another Celtic nation is Caledonia, Dougie McLean's love letter to his native Scotland. There’s also some classical lite. Along with the diverse performances by the singers and the fiddler, musical director David Downes has chosen tunes ranging from Simon & Garfunkel (Scarborough Fair) to Handel (Lascia Ch'io Pianga from "Rinaldo") then arranged them with traditional Celtic instruments. The movie hit Somewhere Over The Rainbow is sung in a delicately lovely, a cappella, close-harmony treatment. Granuaile's Dance requires special emphasis, it’s a real national dance, very lively, perfectly perfomed, which you want to listen to again and again. Most tracks are produced to turn, presented in the aural equivalent of Technicolor or day-glo, in which colors pop while diverging ever so slightly from nature.
Although the album offers fresh material, it covers old ground - but this is exactly what the act's target audience expects and desires. Fans of acoustic folk would likely find the prevailing aesthetic a touch garish, It doesn't have any really "new" sounds relative to their other CD but then you expect "traditional sounds" from Celtic Woman. All have beautiful voices and the album is a good listen for fans of the genre. There may be only one complaint and this is that girls repeat some songs from their individual albums. But, of course, it’s not a disadvantage for the singers, because after this relise they’ll certanly have new fans. On the whole, the music of Celtic Woman shows the mood of Ireland. Melodies immitate the wash and strong cold Atlantic wind. The sad tunes reflect the gloomy weather and ever clouded sky. All of this take the listener to a wonderful journey around Iriland. So A New Journey is for those who just want to relax and enjoy bliss.
