Fish Records - ENAN SUSAN

Full Review

Susan Enan – Plainsong

Way back in 2002 we started carrying Susan’s Moonlight EP, a low-key 5 track disc full of stripped acoustic songs and her beautiful vocals. The intervening seven years saw one of her songs, ‘Bring on the Wonder’ appearing on the TV show ‘Bones’ and with that came an obvious increase in profile and interest in this debut album.

To her credit, she’s taken her time with the release of the disc, it would have been understandable to rush this and capitalise on the TV profile, but ‘Plainsong’ is anything but hurried, the songs are relaxed and comfortable with the arrangements fully formed and considered.

Like the EP before, her vocals are the star of the show, effortlessly smooth and immediately engaging and perfectly suited to the folk/pop arrangements here, and it’s the immediacy of the vocals and melodies that make this a collection that is easy to enjoy from the very first listen.

Although the disc has instant appeal it certainly doesn’t lack depth, the lyrics are concise and direct but have enough depth to engage the listener.
Beautifully and thoughtfully arranged there are many standout tracks here, from the obvious ‘Bring on the Wonder’ with piano and vocals from Sarah McLachlan, through to the simplicity and clarity of the traditional melody used on ‘If You’re Feeling Low’. While it’s a quiet disc, there’s a large amount of instrumental colour here, from the obvious guitars, piano and percussion, there are memorable string additions, especially cello, and even subtle brass additions in places.

‘Plainsong’ is a relaxed and laid-back album, and it’s the kind of collection that you can easily see having broad appeal amongst the acoustic singer/songwriter community. Highly recommended.

ENAN SUSAN - PLAINSONG

Enan Susan