Songbook Vol.1

スタジオジブリの映画「借りぐらしのアリエッティ」で主題歌を歌うセシル・コルベルの2枚目のアルバム。

Celtic or Celtoid? That's the question you end up asking when you listen to Corbel's new album. She certainly has a strong Breton pedigree as both a singer and harpist, well grounded in the tradition. But as the disc progresses, whether this newer, more mainstream direction is apt becomes a very moot point. No one would dispute the quality of her vocals or playing; it's more in the choice of material and, more specifically, the arrangements. Does funk work well with Breton on "Stor Mo Chroi" and a couple of other pieces? The answer really has to be no -- they make fairly uncomfortable bedfellows, while the strings that clutter "The Blackbird" simply hide her instrumental light under a bushel, and her version of "My Love Is Like a Red Rose Rose" should have been jettisoned in the demo stage. For all that, though, it's not a bad album, merely a misguided one. Corbel is too good to ever produce something appalling. Indeed, a few tracks, like "Bemnoz" actually work quite well. But as a viable way forward, Songbook 1 isn't the answer. ~ Chris Nickson|