Comparing emerging artists with another who's already successful has its drawbacks, but it does give listeners an inkling, however broad, of what they might expect. So . . . those enthralled by Enya's distinctive albums, especially "Watermark" and "Shepherd Moons," and yet venturesome enough to lend an ear to music not precisely imitative of her atmospheric style might want to seek out the most recent albums by Loreena McKennitt and Maire Brennan.
Of the two, McKennitt's is at once the most traditional and the most adventurous. "The Visit" (i.e, "life") is a bewitching brew of Celtic folk, world music, pop and new age mythicizing. It is sprinkled with, but not overburdened by, romantic images of knights, ladies, unicorns and ancient landscapes.Take "All Souls Night" as an example. The folkish lyrics recall scenes that evolved into our modern Halloween, but the exotic music supporting the words has Eastern overtones, employing Indian strings, tamboura and a balalaika, among other instruments.
Nor does McKennitt shy away from heady "collaborators." She transforms the beloved English folk song "Greensleeves," with lyrics attributed to King Henry VIII, singing it as she imagines gruff-voiced Tom Waits might . . . although her voice is infinitely more appealing than Waits'. She also adapts a mortal thought from Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" and, most effectively, turns Tennyson's Arthurian "Lady of Shallot" into a riveting troubadour song-tale. Two tracks, "Between the Shadows (Persian Shadows)" and "Tango to Evora," are honeyed instru-men-tals, the latter with evocative vocalise.
Though Canadian, McKennitt's music is clearly steeped in the Irish-Celtic tradition, and (besides that vibrant voice) her instrument is the small, hand-held harp. Yet there's nothing musty or old-fashioned about "The Visit."
There's much of Ireland in "Maire" (pronounced "Moya"), too, a good deal of harp (which is one of Brennan's many talents as well), and a bit of Enya. The latter, though, can be explained as much by genetics and familial taste as anything else - Maire Brennan and the internationally successful Enya are sisters. For Brennan, that must be both blessing and bane.
As with Enya, the folk underpinnings are audible yet submerged in most of the songs on "Maire," but they've been recast as silken pop (as on this album's biggest production, "Altantic Shore," as well as thoughtful numbers like "Jealous Heart" and "Voices of the Land") and "world music." A few tracks in particular - "Against the Wind," an anthem for change, and "Beating Heart," about the neverending search for love - possess a striking cross-cultural flavor, overflowing with chants and percussives.
Others are quite reminiscent of Enya - examples include "Oro," sung in Gaelic, and the breathy "I Believe (Deep Within)" - while some lean toward the folk-pop style of the family band Clannad, from which both sisters hail.
But the truth is Maire Brennan has forged a sound of her own as well. She shows off her own fine voice, which has greater range and color than that of her acclaimed sibling, and also uses female and children's choruses to wonderful effect, giving her first solo album an overwhelmingly feminine feel.
RATINGS: four stars (* * * * ), excellent; three stars (* * * ), good; two stars (* * ), fair; one star (* ), poor, with 1/2 representing a higher, intermediate grade.