Room enough for all
Battlefield Band
Keywords
Reviews (2)
AllMusic
2012
By
By
Chris Nickson
2012
"Irish flutist and singer Nuala Kennedy delivers a much more cohesive and adventurous third album with Noble Stranger. There's the mix of traditional and original material, but with her band behind her, there is a real sense of togetherness in the sound - these are road-tested veterans who understand each other ... What really sets this apart is the use of an old Casio keyboard, given to Kennedy by Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake. It makes a huge difference in the sound, not only on the self-penned opener "Gabriel Sings," but on her take on the old "Lord Duneagle," working well with the acoustic instruments ... "The Banks of the Roses" creates something new, a mix of traditional music and gentle '80s electro - it's charming and it works ... She's moved along as a singer, too, now more assured and bringing a mature warmth to the traditional pieces, while her flute work continues to grow in stature, fluent and always melodic".
fRoots
2012 Nov/Dec
By
By
John O'Regan
2012 Nov/Dec
"Nuala Kennedy (...) can hardly be accused of playing safe. Possessed of musical and personal wanderlust this young flautist and singer has crisscrossed from traditional to jazz and back again ... Noble Stranger hits all the fusion buttons head on. It's quirky, spacey, racy, jumpy, adrenaline-fried and spicy as hell, equally pure drop and razor's edge by turn ... Kennedy's pronounced Northern vocal lilt renews My Bonny Labouring Boy while the sprightly opener Gabriel Sings vaguely recalls 10,000 Maniacs. Love At The Swimming Pool offers a masterclass in melding reels with dub beats and bebop harmonies. The dramatic ballad Lord Duneagle gets a mesmerisingly jagged electro-pop reading with Kennedy's voice occupying Cathy Jordan territorium ... The results, while quirky, are always worthwhile and eccentrically endearing".