Search - Cathie Ryan :: Farthest Wave

SUCH A VOICE

David T. Steere, Jr. | Annapolis, MD United States | 05/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If there is a more engrossing and beautiful album out this year, I'd be amazed. No naval-gazing song writing, no fascination with unhappiness. Cathie Ryan has an Irish/American voice to die for - perfectly suited for her own lovely compositions and for doing full justice to traditional songs from Ireland, Scotland and England. After two great records as lead singer with Cherish the Ladies, she has just come out with her fourth solo cd. THE FARTHEST WAVE is the second produced by the great John McCusker and both are beautifully buoyed by the many talents of the Rusby clan-John is the husband of the peerless Kate Rusby-and all those at the aptly named Pure Records in Yorkshire. Cathie seems unable to utter anything but the most lovely phrasing when she sings. That would be enough to please any listener. But, here she has forces aplenty assisting her. The guitar work is matchless throughout-especially John Doyle's and Kris Drever's. The multi-instrumental John McCusker brings that beautiful work he's displayed to such great effect on all of Kate Rusby's cds: fiddle, whistles, and cittern. He's also written a great jig and a smashing reel for this collection. Phil Cunningham's accordion has a personality all its own and appears throughout. Backing vocals are splendid-especially Karine Polwart's. The songs are so good that it's difficult to pick favorites-I won't try. Notable, however, is the traditional ROUGH AND ROCKY which Cathie heard originally on Emmylou Harris's great early album, BLUE KENTUCKY GIRL. If you can imagine one of the most beautiful voices in the world singing the following verse from the traditional (and by Dermot Henry), "As the Evening Declines," you may get the idea how great this work is:



You can have all your gold, the high king of all metals

With soft talk and kisses we'll never want better

And the west of a ditch is the best of all settles

Glory o, glory, glory when the evening declines

Glory o, glory, glory as the evening declines"

A Very Captivating Experience

B. White | Raleigh, NC USA | 04/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From the extended instrumental introduction to the opening song, "What's Closest to the Heart", to the four-part harmony of the final number, "Home Sweet Home", you will be transported by the music on this CD. While each of her "solo" effort CDs continues to top my list of favorite music, this one is the cream of the crop. As always, her singing is distinctive, and expressive; a perfect fit for each song. The arrangements and instrumental work are flawless. It would be difficult to match the number of "goosebump" moments produced by this album. You may want to listen to this CD in the car on the way to or from work, but you might miss some of the beautiful, intricate instrumentation. You may be tempted to listen to it as background music, but you will miss the touching lyrics. No, the best way to listen to this music is in quiet, with someone you love, and a cup of tea or a glass of wine, and let yourselves be completely taken in by the experience."

Sheer beauty all the way through.

James Heckman | Halifax, PA United States | 06/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am new to Cathie Ryan's music, and bought this CD after hearing her perform some of it live recently. I am not new to Celtic music, however, and have a decent collection of particularly female Celtic artists (some of whom I like more than others). It is against this background of experience, and admittedly passion for the beauty of this kind of music, that I make these comments. This CD is indeed a jewel, clearly an album of striking beauty that I (uncustomarily) listen to all the way through. I would describe the overall tone as sort of elegantly beautiful, a mature and very classy work by Cathie and a group of superb professionals. Which is not to say it's stuffy or ethereal or all of one sound (some of the songs are fast and spirited, some slower). It is just extremely well-executed work consisting of very tuneful Celtic music in the folk idiom. Cathie's voice is one of sheer ability--it's just cleanly beautiful and totally competent in every musical place on this album. Luxurious. The musicianship is equally superb, very tasteful, and rich while not overdone. The overall sound and style of the songs I would describe as more contemporary than traditional, a balance that suits my taste. As mentioned above, the whole album is a pleasure to listen to, but some of the songs are of the kind that put you into that affective space of hypnotic beauty--the kind that obviously carve out their own place in the musical world, and that you hope to find on every album you buy, and sometimes do. You know where they are in your collection. I can't resist naming three of these on this CD: The title song "The Farthest Wave", "As the Evening Declines", and "Be Like the Sea". To sum up, this is a gorgeous piece of work by a truly top talent that I believe will be extraordinarily enjoyable to anyone who likes this genre of music, and very likely to many who think they don't. One seldom gets their hands on a CD of this sheer quality."