Glaschu: Home Town Love Song

Gaelic songstress Mary Ann Kennedy returns with 16 tracks inspired by her home town – and a real labour of love it is too. This urban Gael, brought up in the multicultural diaspora of Scotland's most vibrant city, Glasgow, has delivered a timeless, evocative, smoky epic to the city of her birth.

There is something slightly ethereal in its mix of spoken word, blues, bluegrass and Gaelic song. It feels very much part of the west coast (mainly Glasgow) folk scene of the early 1970s – and that's no bad thing. ‘Òran don ‘Clutha’’ (Song for the ‘Clutha’) is a case in point; it is a tribute to the Clyde but reminiscent of the sound of the Clutha Bar, a regular haunt of Billy Connolly in his Humblebums days.

Actors Bill Paterson and Wilma Kennedy provide spoken-word contributions on four of the tracks, including the odes to Glasgow's shopping thoroughfares ‘Sauchiehall Street, Friday Morning’ and ‘Sràid Bhochanan (Buchanan Street)’.It's a beautifully produced album, rich in atmospheric arrangements accompanying the stunning voice of Kennedy, and a genuine and sincere expression of love for her home town.