Songs from the Donegal and Scots Gaelic tradition belong to a rich store: many preoccupied with the vagaries of love lost, squandered or unrequited.
Noeleen Ní Cholla is a sean nós singer from Gweedore who wears her vocal talents lightly.
Her decorative flourishes are subtle and sympathetic to her eclectic song choices, although her treatment of the big Donegal love song, Dónall Óg is too expansive, resulting in a diluting of the heartache at the core of this grand tale of love unrequited.
Manus Lunny's production is suitably spacious in style. Unusually, Ní Cholla contributes one song of her own composition, Lá Aoibheann Cois Trá, a melodically genteel tale with some lovely whistle playing from Martin Crossin.
Ní Cholla’s debut is shot through with a quiet confidence that reflects a lifetime rich in both singing and listening.
