Ships in the Forest (CD - 2008)

Karan Casey: Robbie Overson, Kris Drever (guitar); Kate Ellis (cello); Cillian Vallely (pipe, pipes); Niall Vallely (concertina); Caoimhin Valley (piano); Martin O'Neill (bodhran).

Personnel: Karan Casey (vocals); Donald Shaw (accordion, harmonium, Wurlitzer organ); Caoimhin Vallely (piano).

Audio Mixer: Paul McGeechan.

Photographer: Robert Hakalski.

Arrangers: Karan Casey; Niall Vallely; Kris Drever.

Blending traditional and modern folk influences, Karan Casey is one of the major stars of the contemporary Irish folk scene. Her fifth album, SHIPS IN THE FOREST, is her debut for a new label, Compass Records, but it remains true to the style developed on its four predecessors. Longtime artistic collaborator Donald Shaw produces Casey's regular touring combo of guitar, cello, and piano, along with a few guest vocalists, on a solid collection of originals and traditionals. Highlights include "Black is the Colour" and the warmhearted "Love Is Pleasing."

You have to admire Karan Casey for being willing to take chances with her material. Certainly, she doesn't have to prove herself as a singer, since she's already at the top of the tree, so instead she seems to have set herself challenges. There's very much a bleakness to some of the songs, with a couple falling squarely into the anti-war camp ("Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye" and a dark, droning version of Joni Mitchell's "The Fiddle and the Drum"), but the feeling is of sorrow rather than anger. There's a track in Gaelic, and a gorgeous Martin Furey song, "Town of Athlone," which holds its own against any traditional ballad, as well as some heartbreak on "I Once Loved a Lass" and "Love Is Pleasing," deftly and delicately handled. And it possibly wouldn't be a real Irish album without an emigration ballad ("Erin's Lovely Home") or one of nationalism ("Dunlavin Green") -- but Casey has picked songs that are outside the common mold, for all that they're traditional. She's developed into a singer or great and glorious subtlety who can communicate emotions with a dazzling range, and these songs force her to do just that, but without any histrionics. On "Black Is the Colour" you feel the awe and gentle love of singer for subject, for example. With Ships in the Forest, Casey shows herself capable of anything. ~ Chris Nickson minimize