STYLE: MOR / Soft Pop RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 86792-16149 LABEL: Independent FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 1
Reviewed by Doug Holland
An all encompassing mood of calm and tranquillity is conveyed on this 52-minute, 12-track offering from one of Ireland's leading vocalists. Always gentle and at times almost melancholic arrangements with light percussion that frequently goes missing completely; piano-based arrangements with strings and guitar enhancements that know their subordinate place, this is sensitive and evocative music. The songs here offer Bourke the chance to delicately weave a fabric of consciousness of time and space, as she explores the myriad of emotions that make up the human condition. Bourke has a stunningly good voice, and she uses it here to devastating effect to unpick issues of what she calls 'the human journey' - resilience, frailty and the need for comfort and to belong, amongst others. The songs themselves are by a variety of writers (including Enya, Eric Clapton ("Tears In Heaven") and material from the Celtic tradition. Even John Lennon gets a look in with the unexpected insertion of "Imagine" into the track, "Angels". As an end-to-end listen 'Echoes In Time' possibly suffers ultimately from a lack of variety. But as an attempt to create almost a world within a world it sometime touches on the truly exceptional.
The opinions expressed in this article are
not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed
views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may
not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a
later date.
Interested in reviewing music? Find out
more here.