Loreena McKennitt - An Ancient Muse
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Artist: Loreena McKennittEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-11-21
Music Label: Verve
Soundtracks:
- Incantation
- The Gates Of Istanbul
- Caravanserai
- The English Ladye And The Knight
- Kecharitomene
- Penelope's Song
- Sacred Shabbat
- Beneath A Phrygian Sky
- Never-Ending Road (Amhr�¡n Duit)
Music reviews of An Ancient Muse
Music Review: The Muse Has Shelf Life Yet
Rating: 4 Stars
It's compelling and exciting to encounter that singular artist with a distinctive and deft sound that merits being deemed a sensibility. McKennit retains that distinction, demonstrating again on `An Ancient Muse' a remarkably comfortable, intimate feel for her quite unique aesthetic, which yields a blend of sounds from where the boundaries about the Middle East, Africa and Europe become less distinct, anchored by a Celtic base. On the best parts of this album, it seems exercised like a rapturous instinct, an ear for turns of melody and rhythm so naturally keen that her creative spirit might well have emerged - an almost corporeal force pulling the bow across the violin or playing the Turkish clarinet. It's a muse that hasn't aged all that seamlessly: After the breathtaking inspiration of `The Book Of Secrets', a certain thinning becomes evident. But, as characterised by the plaintive moan, as of the hollow drone of a wind, that sounds occasionally through these nine songs, it stays restlessly peripatetic, and shows little sign of antiquating.
This is perhaps McKennit's leanest and most consistent album since `Elemental', and, in spite of the lengthiness of a few tracks, counts as a comfortably stimulating listen, especially when considered alongside other efforts dominated by epic compositions, such as `Dante's Prayer' and `Night Ride Across The Caucasus' on `The Book Of Secrets', and `The Two Trees' on `The Mask And Mirror'. The production has taken a small step towards a tone more spare, hence very little here is reminiscent of the lush intoxication of, say, `The Mystic's Dream' or `Marco Polo'. Occasionally, a song feels like it might have benefited from fuller instruments and stronger beats - `Kecharitomene' falls short of being this album's `Marco Polo' as a result, just like `The Gates Of Istanbul' doesn't quite arrest with an invigorating enough groove. What catches one's attention as a result, however, are the songs strengthened by the paring down; and `The English Ladye And The Knight' stands out, probably her best setting of poetry to music because nothing burdens the pace of the ballad, unlike `The Lady Of Shalott' with its real dampener of a meter that her soaring vocals seem to labour through, allowing her lovely melody to lightly permeate the world sketched by Sir Walter Scott's words like a forlorn lament.
Not all the ballads fare as well, however. `Penelope's Song' is unremarkable, in that nothing aside from the lyric distinguishes its particular inspiration: A fairly pedestrian melody driven by piano goes hardly any way toward specifically identifying, let alone depicting, a certain perspective, of a certain female character with a certain experience. Likewise, `Never-ending Road', similarly composed, plays like a quotidian, almost cursory, postscript reassuring the willing listener of future exploits of the like. That they're so unmemorable, however, is precisely why they do not hamper your enjoyment of the album's other, better parts.
More exacting and discerning listeners might charge McKennit with self-plagiarism here, more than that which was committed, inadvertently or otherwise, on earlier recordings. This listener, at least, would rather credit her with effective, discreet echoes on this album, knowing glances back at the earlier days of her cultural odyssey as if in appreciation of the knowledge she acquired from them, occurring frequently enough to make some of these songs personal paeans of nostalgia. Listen closely to `Kecharitomene' and strains from `Between The Shadows' become detectable; indeed even a resemblance in form shows itself like a spectre, subtly nodding to journeys past, a perspective on which has been renewed with time, in the light of experience accumulated since. `Beneath A Phrygian Sky' seems to call out across the years to `The Bonny Swans', seeking some timeless realm where they might commingle and share their respective stories. They possess one common undesirable trait, that of the inexplicable use of a jarring, jangling electric guitar that has never been rewarding. Indeed, this mini-narrative, of McKennit's itinerant persona being gripped by a vision of conflict conjured by a zephyr, a transient gasp from the depths of history, begins unpromisingly with crackling metallic strings exacerbating a tenuous, limp, dated-sounding synthesised beat. Patience is tested slightly before a more organic beat is layered on, buoying a sombre melody that envelops simply telling lyrics. There is a mild thrill on hearing the intriguing and, at least sensibly, helpful tip of the hat to `The Bonny Swans' in the form of the latter's familiar guitar chords, nicely accenting the progression from one verse to the next.
McKennit's signature delights are, thankfully, still to be found: `Caravanserai', though unsurprising, and slightly repetitious-sounding for want of a stronger melody, is evocative enough, especially in its rich instrumentation, to send the sand up before your eyes; and, following the quite stirring `Incantation', the opening beats and twangs of `The Gates Of Istanbul' wash over you with the heady, rousing warmth of revisiting an old friend, a reintroduction to the glory of McKennit's craft that brings a smile of familiarity to the avid listener's face. The aforementioned hollow drone is well placed in tracks like `Caravanserai', reminding the listener and the narrator of how it restively lusts after drama in history, that there is turmoil and impetuosity outside the straightforward, reassuring affirmativeness of songs such as this. It may not be as impressive as incorporating that thematic idea of the turbulence and implacability of the past into the composition itself, but the aural embellishment certainly serves its purpose.
This is a most pleasing record that should bear repeated listens; and those being introduced to McKennit's music by way of it may be afforded something to look forward to in the discovery of her earlier, better work, which they will likely be prompted to. Fortunately, this muse has not gathered dust on the travelogue shelf.
Description of An Ancient Muse
An Ancient Muse is "eclectic celtic" - singer/composer Loreena McKennitt's highly-anticipated first new studio recording in nine years. Taking up where her previous work left off, McKennitt fuses the melodic sensibility of Celtic Balladry with musical traditions from Greece, Turkey, Spain, and beyond. Once heard, never forgotten, Loreena MacKennitt leads the listener on a timeless journey from the Scottish borders to the caravanserais of the Silk Road to the wine-dark seas of Homer's Odyssey. McKennitt's worldwide multi-platinum sales culminated in her most recent album, 1997's The Book of Secrets, which reached #17 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart.It's been nearly a decade since Loreena McKennitt's last studio album, The Book of Secrets, but An Ancient Muse picks up the caravan exactly where she left off on her mystical journey through the cultures of the Middle East and northern Sahara. The Canadian singer opens this album the same way as she did her last two recordings: with an incantation, calling out in a wordless voice across an echoing space, cleansing the air and the mind. What follows is a lot like those albums as well, a pan-global excursion centered on Middle Eastern themes and instruments cast into a dramatic exotica. Oud, dumbek, kanoun, hurdy-gurdy, duduk, nyckleharpe (a Swedish-keyed fiddle), and other ancient sounds from the region and beyond ornament her music, though "ornament" might no longer be accurate. With the exception of Hugh Marsh's gypsy violin solos and a handful of other players, it's the Western instruments that serve as ornaments on An Ancient Muse. McKennitt long ago evolved the Celtic sound that launched her career. She's virtually abandoned the harp, which hasn't appeared on her CDs since 1991's The Visit. The lone uillean pipe on "Beneath a Phrygian Sky" sounds like an echo calling from the McKennitt's past. Nevertheless, the Celtic ballad form remains central to her music, and she still draws inspiration from ye olde writers of the British Isles. Lyrics from Sir Walter Scott adorn "The English Ladye and the Knight," recalling "The Lady of Shalott." But despite McKennitt's soaring alto, the tale drags under the dirge-like meter and ponderous arrangement. The epic track of this album is the aforementioned "Beneath a Phrygian Sky," with distorted electric guitar accents and an acoustic guitar melody carrying McKennitt on another journey into her romanticized version of the ancient world. --John Diliberto
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