Mairi MacInnes
Album: Gras
Label: Puffin
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.mairimacinnes.com

"Gras" is an album that reflects and to a degree promotes the Gaelic rich culture of the Western Isles, in fact all of the songs and sets on the album are in that language, though the track listing does provide a translation of the titles and the booklet captures the inspiration and stories that inspired the songs.

"Gras (Grace)" is an album that is rich in culture that gave birth to it and whilst there are new songs on the album they really do just blend in. Similarly the songs themselves reflect life as a whole with a number of traditional working songs included, reflecting both the fishing and making of tweed, for which the area has become rightly famous.

It will come as no surprise to discover that the key focus is on the voice, which becomes even more of a focus if you're not a native speaker and the inclination becomes more important. Whilst I don't understand the language, I have had plenty of exposure to albums from the region and know the importance of mouth music (puirt a beul) not just as a singing style, but also the role it plays in passing the songs down the generations, though to be fair, many of these are also well documented these days.

If it was just Mairi MacInnes incredible voice that appeared on the album that would more than suffice, but she's joined by Capercaillie 's Karen Matheson and local singer, Paul MacCallum, who hails from South Uist and both of whom open up opportunities for both harmonies and counterpoint and give the album additional variety.

When listening to an album such as "Gras" it's easy to get lost in the oral beauty of the album. Mairi MacInnes has put together an album that speaks to the non-Gaelic speaker, though I know you'll get more from the album if you understand the subtleties in the words and in doing so has created an album that is very easy to listen to. It's definitely worth taking the booklet out and using it almost as a libretto, either way "Gras" is an album to savour.

Neil King