Personnel: Lisa Gerrard (vocals, yang ch'in); Jacek Tuschewski (vocals); John Bonnar (vocals, keyboards); Dimitry Kyryakou (vocals, bouzouki); Peter Bourke (vocals, camel drum, bass tablas, derabukkas, hand claps).
This solo album from Dead Can Dance co-founder Lisa Gerrard is a somber and transcendent work, with her multi-octave voice showcased in a jaw-dropping array of styles, including gothic, Celtic, early Christian, African, and Middle Eastern music. "Sanvean (I Am Your Shadow)" finds Gerrard wailing in divine rapture alongside the strings of the Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra, while on "Persian Love Song (The Silver Gun)," her vocal comes riding desert winds of grief across Middle Eastern strings and drums.
The spooky chants of "The Rite" and devotional feel of "Laurelei" contrast interestingly with tracks like "Majhnavea's Music Box," an instrumental she plays on the yang ch'in (a Chinese version of the dulcimer), and the dramatic full orchestrations of "Le Bal (Song of the Drowned)." As befitting such a reverent album, Gerrard even takes on the music of Handel ("Largo"), and ends the recording by dropping her voice to express even more anguished depths of spiritual yearning. Like her work on the GLADIATOR and WHALE RIDER soundtracks, MIRROR POOL demonstrates Gerrard's unique ability to access a part of the human soul that transcend epochs and continents; this is deeply mysterious music, heart-rending in its beauty. minimize