Two Horizons

1	Show Me 4:57
2	Bright Star 4:15
3	Change My World 3:46
4	Bí Liom 4:32
5	Is It Now (Theme) 0:39
6	Falling 4:20
7	Tara 5:03
8	Ancient Town 3:45
9	Show Me (Theme) 1:09
10	Sailing Away 3:05
11	River 4:09
12	Is It Now? 3:51
13	Mothers of the Desert 3:53
14	Harpsong 3:23
15	Two Horizons 4:29
16	Show Me Bonus Track / Jakatta Mix 3:40

Barnes & Noble

Clannad vocalist Maire Brennan goes for the brass ring on Two Horizons, spelling her name phonetically on the cover in a move that will make for easy pronunciation. She'll need it, too, as thousands of Enya fans who have been ignorant of the other Brennan sister's spellbinding voice will be inquiring at their local record shops. While the musics of Enya (Eithne) and Moya (Maire) have always shared a certain limpid, Celtic dreaminess, Two Horizons makes the connection explicit. Beautifully if heavily produced, the album is of a piece with the soft-focus New Age Celtic sound of A Day Without Rain. The 30 years Moya's spent with Clannad, though, are belied by the presence of folk legends such as guitarist Martin Carthy and fiddler Maire Breatnacht, and by Moya's own prowess on the harp, which is featured prominently on Two Horizons. The album has a loose narrative, following a mystic harp once plucked by the High Kings of Ireland atop the hillat Tara (site of the two horizons of the title) as it changes hands around the world. On "Sailing Away," the harp makes its way to Africa, appropriately accompanied by thundering tribal techno beats; "Mothers of the Desert" makes the most of its airy, expansive ambience, anchored to funky beats out of the Sarah Brightman book. These club-style tracks are balanced by delicate instrumentals such as "Harpsong," but by the end of the journey, Jakatta's punchy remix of "Show Me" shows fans of Clannad and Moya Brennan a new side to this versatile artist. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

Moya Brennan's work away from Clannad has always suffered under the weight of comparisons to her sister, Enya. Her tendency to embrace the new age aesthetic that her sibling is so wrongfully accused of has won her as many detractors as it has supporters. On Two Horizons, Brennan embraces that tag, as well as the lush, Celtic mysticism of Enya, resulting in her finest offering yet. Taking a cue from The Red Violin, the record chronicles the history of a legendary harp used for celebration in Celtic mythology. Brennan, a devout Christian, takes a decidedly secular approach with the material, following the harp through the eyes of slave traders ("Ancient Town") and an African princess ("Sailing Away") to its triumphant return home to Tara in Ireland ("Harpsong"). The arrangements are heavy on the multi-tracked vocals and keyboards that have come to define the contemporary Celtic genre, but are lent authenticity by Maire Breatnach's strings, Martin Carthy's guitar, and Brennan's inspired harp playing. This is melodically charged new age-progressive Celtic music at its best, and fans of Brennan's work with Clannad will find much to love here, while those turned off by the previous descriptor would do well to distance themselves immediately. Reverend Lee Power