The Lonesome Beauty of the Western Isles.

After two fine solo albums, a clutch of awards, unexpected inroads into the mainstream and a Scots Gaelic version of The Beatle's Blackbird, you wonder how much further Fowlis can take her Outer Hebridean roots without blowing it all. But she's no one-trick pony and, while firmly loyal to her enriching heritage, this seductively inviting selection - exuding romance, beauty and sorrow - subtly expands her horizons. Her sublime vocals can be taken as read, but as an accomplished multi-instrumentalist she also now fronts a superb band that creates a gorgeous diversion for her Gaelic work and love songs. Extra variety comes from an intriguing dual language duet with Eddi Reader on Wind and Rain, a Breton song translated into Gaelic, further duets with Mary Smith and plaintive track with Highland piper Allan MacDonald. Elegant, evocative, unerringly classy.

Colin Irwin