Review - Cynthia Bennett - Mother Ireland’s Daughters
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Artist: Cynthia Bennett
CD: Mother Ireland’s Daughters
Bonnie declares: Okay, deep breath … whew! This may be the review that makes bands afraid to send us CDs to listen to. Just bear with me for a few minutes. I don’t like to say uncomplimentary things, and I’m not about tearing people down. In fact this review almost didn’t get done, but then I decided that I was being a great big chicken. So keep in mind that this is my opinion, and here we go.
The CD is Mother Ireland’s Daughters by Cynthia Bennett. I love the concept of this album so much, and I really anticipated loving the album itself. (Rebel songs and songs that celebrate Irish women as well as their men? Gimme!) Unfortunately the truth is that it was hard for me to listen to. There’s something off about it - badly so.
I don’t quite understand how you can take a good band, a good singer, and good songs, and end up with a final product that is, well, not so good. Maybe I’m a lunatic but the vocals sound strained and even forced. I’ve heard other songs by Cynthia Bennett that were stylistically very different from the ones on this c.d. and I thought they were entertaining and delightful. The tunes on this particular album just miss the mark.
Most of the songs sounded the same to the point that they almost ran together. I wanted to adore this but it left me feeling disappointed and vaguely unsatisfied.
Don’t hate me. Okay, if you really need to, go ahead.
Mike says: Well, what can I say? When it comes to art, sometimes you pour your heart into it, come up with the most emotional, creative work you can dream up, and something about it just doesn’t work. Telling the bloody tale of the Emerald Isle from the perspective of the proud, stolid women who saw husbands and sons give up everything in the name of freedom is about as ambitious and emotional a project as I can imagine. It didn’t work.
Stylistically, Mother Ireland’s Daughters is a collection of slow ballads sung with a very Spartan sort of guitar accompaniment, forcing all of the emotional weight of the music onto the vocals. Judging only by the songs we found on Cynthia’s Myspace page, this is not the style she normally sings, and it doesn’t really seem to suit her.
The brightest spot on the CD, the title track and the last one on the disc, is the only tune which seems to break away from the model set by the rest, and is sort of upbeat and the singer really seems to feel comfortable and let it go. I wish that more of the album had been like this one.
You can find out more about Cynthia Bennett at www.cynthiasmusic.com
