Distant Future

by Heidi Talbot

Overview

Heidi Talbot will be familiar to American fans of Celtic music as the featured vocalist with Cherish the Ladies. For her solo debut, she collaborated with guitarist and producer John Doyle (formerly of Solas, and a solo artist in his own right) to create a captivating program of quiet, slow to midtempo songs both ancient and modern, all of them set to tastefully minimal arrangements and accompanied by a shifting array of players who include multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell, percussionist Shane O'Sullivan, violinist Dana Lynn, and Doyle himself. The traditional numbers on this album are uniformly excellent: Talbot brings a wonderful, sweet vulnerability to "High Germany" and "Jealousy," and her double-tracked voice on the almost unaccompanied "MacCrimmon's Lament" is eerily gorgeous. Her renditions of Doyle's and O'Sullivan's compositions are also very fine, particularly her graceful accounts of the melodically complex "In Silence I Go" and the lilting "Said to Me Sweetly." The two Boo Hewerdine songs aren't possessed by quite the same magic; "Geography" sounds miscast as minimalist folk music, though the piano/guitar/voice arrangement of "Muddy Water" works quite well. Very highly recommended overall.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/03/2004
Label:	Compass Records
UPC:	0766397437323
catalogNumber:	974373
Rank:	170311

Tracks

1. In Silence I Go
2. Jealousy
3. Muddy Water
4. I Dream of You
5. Geography
6. High Germany
7. Said to Me Sweetly
8. Distant Future
9. MacCrimmon's Lament
10. Summer's Gone
11. Your Favourite Star

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Heidi Talbot   Primary Artist,Vocals
John Doyle   Acoustic Guitar,Bouzouki,Electric Guitar,Vocals,12-string Guitar
Dirk Powell   Bass,Piano,Cajun Accordion
John "Buddy" Williams   Accordion,Concertina,Low Whistle
Rayna Gellert   Fiddle
Shane OSullivan   Percussion,Vocals
Stephen Heller   Bass

Technical Credits

Glenn Barratt   Engineer
John Doyle   Arranger,Producer
Boo Hewerdine   Composer
Dirk Powell   Arranger
Traditional   Composer
Heidi Talbot   Arranger
Dave Schonauer   Engineer
Stephen Heller   Engineer