Aoife O'Donovan's debut solo album "Fossils" is great music that will make you happy.
She writes modern folk songs which are very much in the spirit of traditional English folk songs from centuries ago. The songs include the traditional topics of love, death, and loneliness, but the songs as delivered are never depressing and often downright cheerful.
Her voice is clear and beautiful. Although many modern singers go into histrionics, Aoife just sings, comfortably within her range. The word to sum her up is "smooth." (She reminds me a bit of singer Janet Pressley from Cincinnati, who I also highly recommend. See www.bluejordan.com for Janet Pressley.)
The arrangements are never cluttered. The musicians are first-rate. The recording is clear; it isn't over-produced or mixed too loud.
Aoife comes out of the bluegrass world, but this album has more in common with Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album than with any bluegrass album. You'll like this music even if you hate bluegrass.
If you like Sade, Joni Mitchell, or Judy Collins, you'll probably like this album.
Highly recommended.
You can listen to MP3 previews on Amazon. You'll find the album if you search for "aoife". I bought the album on CD, instead of MP3,to get the extra sound quality. The CD sounds much much better on a good stereo system than the MP3 does on computer speakers or cheap headphones.
As a bonus, the CD's front cover is an amusing picture of the lovely Aoife O'Donovan herself. As one Amazon reviewer put it, "Could they possibly have made her look any goofier?"
Vimeo has Aoife's video for her song "Red & White & Blue & Gold."
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