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By Sean McGhee, Rock n Reel Magazine, May/June 2007

***** (5 Stars)

Julie Fowlis, Cuilidh
(Spit and Polish/ Shoeshine)

Gaelic music has never been considered particularly cool nor a great commercial proposition but Cuilidh, the second album from the native of South Uist in the Western Isles of Scotland, Julie Fowlis, could change all that.

Cuilidh is an accessible and oftern spellbinding collection that allows Fowlis to bring out the real beauty of traditional Gaelic song; the yearning, bitter sweet love songs, day to day life and historical stories are related in Fowlis's native tongue with a beguiling charm and an enchanting voice that can't fail to draw you in. Added to this is a impressively heavyweight line-up of musicians including Eamon Doorley (from contemporary folk outfit, Danu), famed fiddler John McCusker, master mandolinist Chris Thile and multi-instrumental genius Michael McGoldrick - plus John Doyle (ex-Solas), Mark Kelly (of Altan) and Donald Shaw (of Capercaillie).

The accompaniments serve as the perfect setting for Fowlis's voice, the players never threatening to swamp her performance. The arrangements manage to breathe new life into the songs and push Fowlis to go that extra few yards, bringing out her best and, in doing so, creating an album of compelling and sublime songs that deserves your absolute attention.