Harp and voice are the anchors of Moya Brennan and Cormac de Barra's second album together in three years. "Affinity" aptly describes the duo's shared appetite for harmony-driven, rhythmically complex set-pieces as they mine both traditional and contemporary veins in pursuit of fresh perspectives. With five original compositions of their own (four jointly and one by Brennan), and an unexpected cover of Christopher Cross's Sailing, they create enough space to flex their musical muscle, albeit with a certain drawing room restraint that forges little new ground. The layered production is augmented further by contributions from John Reynolds, resulting in a soft focus that dilutes the pair's greatest strength: the sinuous beauty of their harp strings and Brennan's fluid vocals. A little less interference from the mixing desk would have served their essentially solid repertoire better.
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