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Three's A Crowd Lifestlye, 2nd April 2007
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(5/5)

Julie Fowlis, Cuilidh
(Spit and Polish/ Shoeshine)

Completing the hat-trick of female vocalists for this edition is Scottish folkster Julie Fowlis. From Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Fowlis follows up debut album As My Heart Is (or ‘mar a tha mo chridhe’) with Cuilidh – pronounced ‘cool-ee’ incidentally – which is Gaelic for a secret hiding place for precious things.

The name is fitting. After all, who would have expected an album of traditional Scottish folk songs sung in Gaelic to be the best album of the year so far? It doesn’t matter that the songs, which range from jigs to the most wistful – uistful perhaps? - of ballads, are in a dialect you won’t understand. The message and the spirit comes across, thanks to some exemplary performances from the likes of Eamon Dorley, Nickel Creek’s Chris Thile, Capercaillie’s Donald Shaw and, particularly, John McCusker’s outstanding fiddle playing.

Most of all though, it’s Fowlis’ voice. There’s some of Alison Krauss’ purity here, a hint of Shawn Colvin, but Fowlis is very much her own woman. Her voice is an instrument of astonishing clarity, as pure as the waters one imagines trickles through the Hebrides. And the speed! Even if you can make out the words, on many tracks you wouldn’t have a hope of keeping up as Fowlis skips through the lyrics at a rate of knots that outshines 99 per cent of rap acts.

Cuilidh is remarkable and, like all the best music, works its way into the soul. The words may be ‘hidden’ due to the dialect but the emotion rings as true as Fowlis’ exquisite voice.