MAGGIE MACINNES – Spirit Of Life

MAGGIE MACINNES Spirit Of LifeI first came across Maggie MacInnes on an album with George Jackson some years ago and was taken by her impressive vocals and harp playing. Last year she released a cd on Dougie MacLean’s Dunkeld record label, which received many plaudits from the folk press.

The new album picks up the reins but is given to a fuller production with musical contributions from Sean O’Rourke, Charlie McKerron and Brian McAlpine. Allowing the fact that the whole album is sung in Gaelic, prejudices are broken by the beauty of the voice.

On the track ‘Thug mi gaol do’n fhear bhan’ the accompaniment of the glissando effect electric guitar (like the one’s Big Country and Runrig popularised) is an exercise in restrained performance. The two walking songs that follow utilise

Charlie’s swinging fiddle and backing vocals by her mother Flora MacNeill and the children of the Glasgow Gaelic Primary School.

Not as ethereal as her previous recording but just as rewarding.

Original Posting date -18-May-2001
Reviewers Name – Pete Fyfe