Description
Perfect Time is the CCM solo debut album by the Irish folk singer and songwriter Máire Brennan of Clannad fame (since 2002 she is known under the phonetic spelling of her name, Moya Brennan), released on Word Entertainment in March 1998, with distribution by Epic Records. The album was recorded at Mo Studio and The Production Suite in Dublin, Ireland; and was produced by Denis Woods with Máire Brennan co-producing.
The Voice Of Clannad releases her third solo album and this time chooses to nail her Christian colours to the mast and record an album of songs that reflect her faith. A Christian for 10 years now, aside from her guest appearance on Iona’s ‘Journey Into The Morn‘, this is Maire’s first step into the pool of Christian music having swum the oceans of mainstream music in a platinum selling career. If you’ve got into Celtic sounds through Iona and enjoy that band, this deserves to be on your stereo. This album has the full potential to make it in the mainstream market since Maire’s vocal stylings and stunning musical soundscapes are still firmly in place. Simply put, this is a magnificent album! Sung in Gaelic and English, ‘Perfect Time’ explores issues of faith and pays tribute to the richness of the Celtic Christian tradition, a unifying Irish history that both Catholics and Protestants share. This thought is explored in «Heal This Land» where Maire’s not afraid to tackle hard issues and point to the one who can bring healing. «Song Of David» is a Celtic version of Psalm 67 and «Doon Well» is a brilliant instrumental demonstrating Maire’s fine Celtic harp playing. «The Light On The Hill» is a tribute to St Patrick and at time of writing, it’s slated for single release. Overall this is a delightful album, the sound washes over you like healing water and the lyrics lift the spirit. Much imitated but never bettered, it’ll probably sell half a million copies so make sure it finds its way into your collection! [Mike Rimmer, Cross Rhythms, April 1998]
Christian music has been particularly prone to copying general market music trends and fads as they begin to fade.
You might think Maire Brennan’s Celtic pop release, ‘Perfect Time’, is that sort of CD – Christian music lemming their general market counterparts. Celtic pop worked for the multi-platinum seller Enya, didn’t it? And Loreena McKennitt has blazed trails with music that is conceptually similar – melodic, lavish, slickly produced world music with enough edge to chart new waters and enough pop sensitivity to avoid the shoals and reefs.
Before we label Brennan derivative, however, here’s the twist: She’s not so much copying a trend as merely carrying it into a new venue. If comparisons to Enya are irresistible, it’s not just the uncanny, similar arrangements and production sensitivities (though not as plush), it is the fact that they are sisters and both share the distinction of having spun off solo ventures from the same trend-setting family group, Clannad.
But Maire (pronounced Moy-a) has her own resume to wave. You’ve heard her voice on VW commercials as well as on the soundtracks for ‘Patriot Games’ and ‘Last of the Mahicans’. There is a soundtrack quality to ‘Perfect Time’ as well – a soundtrack for the soul’s pilgrimage. And the result is stunning, evocative, ethereal. [James Long, CCM, April 1998]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/perfect-time/1166004483)
CD tracklist:
01. Big Rock – 3:03
02. Perfect Time – 4:45
03. The Light On The Hill – 4:02
04. Na Páistí (The Children) – 2:39
05. Heal This Land – 3:44
06. Song Of David (Psalm 67) – 4:07
07. Our World – 6:09
08. Doon Well – 3:56
09. Grá Dé (The Love Of God) – 6:25
10. Big Rock (Instrumental) – 3:03
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Word.
A full-page advertisement for Máire Brennan’s Perfect Time was featured in the March 1998 issue of CCM Magazine.
“Perfect Time” (MUSIC VIDEO)
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