After The Morning
卡拉·狄龙(Cara Dillon)似乎只用了几年的时间就征服了整个国家，这几年她过得惊心动魄、大事不断。她天生的性格拥有罕见的让人无法抗拒的魅力，她能够把宏大的故事融入歌曲当中，摄人心魄，她那包罗万象的品质跨越了国家、文化、甚至是语言的界限。 她出生于1975年，来自一个爱尔兰传统音乐世家。她的声音如此清透美丽而极具风格，让观众们觉得相间恨晚。用这样一句话来形容Cara Dillon不足为过：Cara Dillon是个不寻常的天才！ 14岁的时候，Cara Dillon就赢得了全爱尔兰传统歌唱比赛冠军。在开始她自己喜欢的事业之前，她和她的伙伴Sam Lakeman和一家唱片公司签约想做流行歌手，可之后他们发现自己并不喜欢做流行音乐。于是他们出了一张凄美的民歌专集Cara Dillon/Rough Trade Records，出乎意料地赢得了广泛好评。这股随之而来的Cara Dillon效应让她和她的伙伴完全转型。而之后她所获得的无数奖项更加肯定了他们的转型。 《爱尔兰音乐杂志》：Cara Dillon冷酷却富有感染力的声音包含着她对家乡的热情和对国家的热爱。 Folk Roots Magazine：毫不夸张地说，Cara Dillon有着极少数人才有的美妙嗓音。 《Q杂志》： “爱尔兰曾培育出无数夺冠的音乐家，但是即使是在这样的星光闪耀之下，Cara Dillon也是他们中的一个奇迹——一位长着大大眼睛的玩玩全全的爱尔兰人.Cara Dillon声音的表现力远远超越了她的年龄，及具商业价值。” 《每日电报》：“成熟、从容，全身散发着迷人的气质.” 《英国民谣杂志》： “Cara Dillon，可以毫不夸张的说，是现今我们能够听到的最美妙的声音之一.” 《爱尔兰音乐杂志》： “Cara Dillon的声音冷静中富有感情，充满了温暖的气息和与生俱来的信仰。” 《韵律杂志》： “如果有人怀疑传统音乐的力量，那么这张专辑会立刻让你相信！诠释爱情、离别和孤独的歌曲从来没有如此美妙过.她歌声中的清澈和美好具有独特的魅力——这个女孩绝对有成功的本钱！” 《生活传统》： “她能够从已有的标准曲目中发展出自己的歌曲，并且让你觉得那就是专门为她写的，这种罕见的能力就是她最关键的独特之处.她的专辑所涉及的范围和质量会令无数人震惊。” 《Time Out》（伦敦）： “这位民谣新星的初次登场设计精心巧妙、感情细腻美好.继承了冷漠的传统.但是给观众带来的感情冲击却跨越了国家的界限，让她赢得了各国观众的心。她亲切的声音和萨姆·莱克曼的钢琴结合在一起，共同奏响了绝世之曲。” 《星期日先驱报》 “.年轻、纯粹的爱尔兰血统、华丽.她的声音让人慨叹：此曲只应天上有，人间哪得几回闻。” 《旁观者》: “.Cara Dillon的每一个音符都饱涵感情与技巧” 《Mojo》: “.令人震惊的美妙声音” 标记 ★ 的是由Cara Dillon 和 Sam Lakeman 创作的 标记 ★★ 的是由Cara Dillon, Sam Lakeman 以及 Marne 创作的 标记 ◆ 的是爱尔兰传统民谣 标记 ◆◆ 的是由Dougie Maclean创作的 标记 ◆◆◆的是由Pamela Rose 和Mary Ann Kennedy 以及Randy Sharp 创作的 01. Never In A Million Years ★ 02. I Wish You Well ★ 03. Here's A Health ◆ 04. Brockagh Braes ◆ 05. Garden Valley ◆◆ 06. October Winds ★ 07. Bold Jamie ★ 08. The Streets Of Derry ◆ 09. This Time ★★ 10. The Snows They Melt The Soonest ◆ 11. Walls ◆◆◆ 12. Grace ★ Cara Dillon has one of those magical voices — magical in the way that Niamh Parsons' or Mary Black's is magical, though without sounding very much like either one of them. It's soft without being breathy, and clear without being hard, and absolutely lovely. Her repertoire is similarly hard to define; obviously reared on traditional Irish song, she has spent much of her career so far working in more of a folk-pop mode (notably as Kate Rusby's replacement in the successful band Equation), but both aspects of her musical background are fully in evidence on her American debut album. She recorded it in collaboration with Sam Lakeman, her former bandmate in Equation, and it features a nice mix of modern and traditional fare with something of an emphasis on the latter. The album's first single, "Never in a Million Years," could have been an Equation song, whereas Dillon's quietly spectacular take on the Dougie MacLean composition "Garden Valley" takes more of a trad approach to a modern song. There are a few minor missteps: the slide guitar on "Grace" doesn't work as well as it should, and the rhythm is a bit heavy-handed on "Bold Jamie." But the cameo appearance by Paul Brady (on "Streets of Derry") makes up for a lot, and her gorgeous arrangement of "Brockagh Braes" is alone almost worth the price of the disc. Highly recommended.