With
No Frontiers
,
Mary Black
continues to distance herself from
traditional Irish
music. This time, however, she has also left behind the shimmery over-production of
Without the Fanfare
; the arrangements are, for want of a better word, more dignified this time, and they provide a better fit for her naturally elegant voice. As usual, several of the songs are by
Jimmy McCarthy
, and also as usual these are among the best:
"Shuffle of the Buckled"
sounds as if it were written for
Black
and the title track makes equally good use of her achingly sweet and clear voice. Inevitably, there is a misguided swipe at a
pop
classic -- in this case, a vaguely
Latin
-flavored arrangement of
"I Say a Little Prayer for You"
that is so bloodless and drained of passion that listening to it feels like an insult to
Aretha Franklin
.
Noel Brazil
's
"Fat Valley of Pain"
is a solid winner, though, and
Donal Long
"The Shadow"
is a quietly powerful depiction of the horror and loss wrought by Northern Ireland's century-old troubles. On this album
seems to have gained control of the modern influences that had taken over on
, and the result is one of her more complex and powerful albums. ~ Rick Anderson