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By Annie Windley, Time Out London Magazine, 4th-10th April 2007

***** (5 Stars)

Julie Fowlis, Cuilidh
(Spit and Polish/ Shoeshine)

This young Gaelic-speaking singer and whistle player from the Outer Hebrides was last year named Best Newcomer at the BBC Folk Awards. This second album confirms her early promise, with Fowlis sticking to songs in her native tongue, here in beautiful, restrained settings played by renowned musicians, including John McCusker and Chris Thile. Fowlis conveys the emotion and passion of her home's traditional songs in a way that surpasses any language barriers. The album's title means 'secret hiding place for precious things' - it's certainly precious but this is a secret that deserves to be discovered beyond the folk world's boundaries.