Shanley is of course well-known and highly regarded as a solo artist as well as being a one-time singer with De Dannan. Less familiar to Irish audiences is New York-based gospel singer Ivan Leparr, who surprisingly also once performed with De Dannan as part of a gospel project – which is where the pair first met and performed together.
Here they tackle a selection of gospel tunes and covers with mixed results. Shanley is a fine singer with an emotive depth to her voice but soul music isn’t necessarily her natural environment. That said she makes a decent stab at Jimmy Cliff’s classic ‘Many Rivers To Cross’ though she tends to be over-powered by Leparr whose big voice lets rip on straight gospel tunes like the title track and ‘Drifting Too Far From The Shore’. Of the better known numbers Stevie Wonder’s ‘Heaven Help Us All’ and a pair of Dylan covers including his born-again anthem ‘You’ve Gotta Serve Somebody’ and ‘License To Kill’ stand out though they bring little new to the originals.
The backing is impeccable throughout, particularly the bluesy piano and guitar licks while the album is well-produced. Undoubtedly this material will work much better in a live setting – they are currently touring Ireland.