Cadenza look set to cut a swathe through any cosy notions of musical boundaries by melding traditional, classical folk and contemporary music.

With so much lazy music around, the Sligo-based quartet - fronted by Deirdre Byron Smith on harp and vocals - astound jaded ears with their penchant for original arrangements. Then again, sneak a peek at their line-up and adjust your expectations (upwards). With ex-Waterboy Steve Wickham on fiddle and mandolin, Anna Houston on cello and sundry other sounds, and Gerry Grennan on guitar and backing vocals, theirs is a sound with a difference: sublime, considered strings pirouette, leaving comfortable breathing space for vocals.

Truth be told, though, it's the instrumental tracks that work best. Unfettered by vocals, cello and banjo merge and part with curious discretion on 'Slow River/Farewell To Pat', a gorgeous coupling of slow air and reel.

Vocals are less successful because they try too hard; the songs sink beneath the weight of their own self-regard. And so 'Phantom Lover' lusts after Marlene Dietrich and comes up with Liza Minelli. With the necessity of self-production, Cadenza can't seem to distance themselves sufficiently from the material to make it cut and thrust as it might.

Still, Byron-Smith's harp breathes new life into a sound long-overdue for revival, and Houston's cello reeks of a passion for ploughing new furrows. As long as we can bask in the glories of inventive musicians stretching their creative muscle, we need have no fear of the peroxide boy bands' hegemony.